City Hall wants P124M budget for garbage disposal

Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña

CEBU City Mayor Tomas Osmeña sought a P102 million budget that will go to outsourcing heavy equipment and dump trucks for the city’s garbage collection and disposal next year.

The mayor also asked for P22 million in miscellaneous services for garbage collection and disposal which is lower than this year’s budget of P135 million for garbage collection and disposal.

“This is because we don’t have tipping fees anymore. We are not dumping in the private landfill in Consolacion anymore. We also don’t have a budget for capital outlay, this is why we will be outsourcing equipment including trucks, bulldozers and backhoes,” said Roberto Cabarrubias, chief of the Department of Public Services (DPS).

The city used to pay P700 per ton of garbage being dumped in Consolacion as tipping fee. The city generates between 400 to 600 tons of garbage daily.

Cabarrubias said the lack of heavy equipment has been a problem in the city’s operations inside the landfill.

He said their backhoe fell on its side last week and is still being repaired as well as their bulldozer.

The DPS uses these equipment to spread and compact the newly collected garbage being dumped by the city’s barangays every day.

The city government along with the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) will also create a multipartite monitoring team (MMT) to oversee the operation of the Inayawan landfill.

The Cebu City Council approved a resolution last week authorizing Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña to enter into an agreement with the EMB on this.

The agreement will also set up an Environmental Monitoring Fund (EMF) and an Environmental Guarantee Fund (EGF) for the Inayawan landfill.

All of these were requirements under the Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC) issued by the DENR to the city for the landfill back in 1993.

The city’s failure to comply with the requirements were cited by the EMB as among several violations committed by the city in operating the landfill.

In its 2017 budget proposal, the city included an appropriation of P50 million for the EGF and P2 million for the EMF.

The agreement is scheduled for signing by all parties on November 8.

Asked why it took so long for the city to comply with these requirements for the landfill, City Hall environmental consultant Nida Cabrera said she lobbied for its compliance during her term as councilor.

She said this wasn’t supported by former mayor Michael Rama.

EMB Regional Director William Cuñado also said the city government and Cebu City Councilor Joel Garganera will be submitting their position paper this week.

Cuñado said it will be up to the court to decide on the date on the landfill’s closure.