There is a valid point to the objection against proposed projects for the Inayawan landfill/dumpsite in Cebu City without a closure plan that would pave the way for its eventual rehabilitation.
All three of the proposed plans mentioned during last Tuesday’s session at the City Council will facilitate a return to the use of the Inayawan landfill as a dumpsite and will run counter to a Court of Appeals ruling that prohibits the use of the landfill that was supposed to be closed since last year.
These plans consist of building a perimeter fence around the landfill, recovery for the landfill site and building a causeway between the landfill and the South Road Properties (SRP).
As if setting a transfer station at the Inayawan landfill isn’t enough to trigger suspicions of City Hall’s plans to get around the Court of Appeals ruling, these projects will allow the city government to use whatever extra land is left at the landfill and convert it into a new dumping ground.
In reopening the landfill, the administration’s argument was that there is a lot more of the area that can be used as new dumping ground for the city’s mounting garbage volume.
Garbage remains the bigger concern, and with Barug Team Rama supposedly getting another loyalist into the council, the administration is hard-pressed to secure support for their landfill plans.
Speaking of transfer station, the existing one at Inayawan landfill is reportedly getting bigger due to the failure of the existing hauler Pasajero Motors Corporation (Pamocor) to speedily transfer the city’s garbage to the nearest available landfill facility in Cebu City that happens to be in Consolacion town.
Even with the refusal to settle payments to the landfill facility for previously collected garbage, Cebu City ended up shipping its garbage to the same facility anyway thanks to its hired haulers.
Cebu City residents can expect their taxpayers’ money to go mostly towards collecting their garbage until the city government finds another existing landfill facility or another site to build a new landfill from the ground up within the city premises.
There are moves towards building a new landfill, and these should dovetail into the final closure and rehabilitation plan for the Inayawan landfill.
Continuing to use the Inayawan landfill/dumpsite only continues to affect nearby residents whose health will erode even with the city’s band-aid solutions to alleviate their plight.
Whatever solutions the city government has should not include reviving the Inayawan landfill but rather finalizing its closure and finding a new suitable site in which to dump the city’s garbage.
Coupled with an aggressive waste management and recycling program, an equally aggressive plastic ban and a proactive garbage collection initiative, Cebu City can significantly reduce its garbage volume to manageable levels.
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