Cebu City is moving forward toward addressing its garbage problems as it awaits the Asian Development Bank’s study, which can help the city to modernize its solid waste management system.
CDN FILE PHOTO
After more than a year of bickering over how to manage the city’s garbage problems, the Cebu City government is finally taking what many consider as “a step in the right direction” as it partners with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to help the city improve and modernize its solid waste management system.
Gordon Alan “Dondi” Joseph, president of the Cebu Business Club (CBC), said this is a good step towards making Cebu a smart and more livable city.
“This is a welcome development. Mega Cebu had been lobbying for the implementation of modern waste management throughout Cebu — something every world-class city practices,” Joseph told Cebu Daily News.
Mega Cebu, a consortium of 13 Cebu cities and municipalities, regional line agencies, and private and civil society organizations, envisions sustained urban growth in Metro Cebu up to 2050.
The body also envisions the achievement of sustainable waste management projects by 2030, including the construction of two sanitary landfills and waste-to-energy facilities by 2025.
Last week, the ADB announced that it was providing technical assistance to improve and modernize solid waste management in Cebu City under a public-private partnership (PPP) arrangement coursed through the Asia-Pacific Project Preparation Facility.
In a statement, the Manila-based multilateral institution said the assistance will fund a pre-feasibility study involving the review of economic, legal, technical, social and environmental aspects.
The study will also help authorities come up with a strong project concept, with the private sector expected to design, build, finance, operate and maintain the project.
“PPPs will play a critical role for urban areas in Asia and the Pacific to improve infrastructure delivery and quality of life for residents,” said Ryuichi Kaga, head of ADB’s Office of Public-Private Partnership.
Ted Locson Jr., vice president for external affairs of the Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI), said any study on the city’s waste management is always welcome.
“What is important is the early implementation of whatever program has been agreed on,” he said.
In earlier reports, CCCI Vice President for Business Development Virgilio Espeleta said problems such as flooding and solid waste management are hindrances to business competitiveness.
The usual risk faced by businesses, especially small and medium-sized, is scaling up to be more competitive.
However, Espeleta pointed out that Cebu does not provide a competitive environment for micro, small, and medium-scale enterprises (MSME) due to inadequate infrastructure, red tape, worsening traffic, flooding and solid waste management problems, as well as poor internet connectivity.
ADB study
Former Cebu City councilor Nida Cabrera, who is now Mayor Tomas Osmeña’s point person on environment matters, said that the P40-million study to be funded by ADB will soon commence.
The city government is hoping that with this undertaking, concrete and specific plans to address the city’s waste management problems will be brought about with the ADB’s study.
She said that the first part of the project will be a three-month pre-feasibility study which will be conducted by consultants who will be hired and paid for by ADB. After this will be the main feasibility study which will take another six months.
“It’s a study on how we will handle our solid waste management including the collection system, equipment and disposal. It will also recommend directions for new solid waste management technology like waste-to-energy facilities and where it can be done in the city,” Cabrera told Cebu Daily News.
Cabrera said they will be having initial discussions with ADB consultants, who will be provided with an office in City Hall complete with assistants and coordinators, next week.
“After the entire study, we will be able to finalize our business concept where we can partner with the private sector. We will invite private proponents for the implementation of the recommendations of the study,” Cabrera said.
Cabrera said the city government of Yokohama, which has sister city ties with Cebu City, was the first to introduce to her the ADB grant for the study.
She then relayed this to Mayor Osmeña considering the city has been having big problems in its solid waste management program which include the closure of the Inayawan landfill, lack of a final disposing site and increasing volume of daily garbage generation, among others.
Last February, the city sent its letter of intent to the ADB to avail of the study grant.
The city’s request was approved last March.
The ADB recently announced in a statement that it was providing technical assistance to help improve and modernize Cebu City’s solid waste management.
Cebu City Councilor Raymond Garcia, chairperson of the committee on laws, said that he welcomed the development.
“I will just wait for the MOA (memorandum of agreement) to reach the council so that we can review the terms and conditions of the contract,” Garcia said in a text message to CDN.
He said that while the study may not immediately solve the city’s garbage problem, it was a step towards the right direction and he will support it.
“A long-term solution is needed. I hope the mayor will prioritize (this),” Garcia said./With Reporter