Private contractor begins research for closure plan
The 15.4-hectare Inayawan landfill, which was ordered closed last December, is in dire need of a closure plan to determine how the area can be best utilized in the future. The Cebu City government is contracting the services of a private corporation, Full Advantage Phils International Inc., to draw up a rehabilitation program.
CDN PHOTO/JUNJIE MENDOZA
INAYAWAN LANDFILL
A private consultant tapped by the Cebu City government to help plan the future of the landfill in Barangay Inayawan, ordered permanently closed last December, has started to gather data for the “closure project” which will include the rehabilitation and management of the 15.4-hectare area.
According to the head of Cebu City’s Environment and Natural Resources Office (CCENRO) Nida Cabrera, officials have been meeting with Full Advantage Phils International Inc., a project developer and consulting company hired by the city.
“Since the need for a closure plan is immediate, they have already started initial surveys of the landfill. They have also started gathering previous data of the landfill like the amount of garbage that have been dumped there since 1997,” Cabrera told Cebu Daily News.
Based on the Terms of Reference (TOR) of the closure plan contract, the consultant is given three and a half months to conduct studies before coming up with the actual final plan.
Aside from data collection and site assessment, the contract involves the preparation of the closure plan; preparation of the rehabilitation program; and technical advice.
The city’s consultant will need to gather data on the depth and volume of wastes in Inayawan; its on-site waste characteristics; leachate generation and quality; as well as groundwater and surface water quality.
On the social aspect of the plan, the consultant will have to research on the wastepickers and informal settlers in the area; gas emissions and air quality.
All data gathered will be used for the actual closure plan which will also include the physical closure and rehabilitation plan; a post closure management plan; a post closure monitoring plan; and a post closure land use plan.
“It will be a comprehensive plan. It will include their recommendation on the utilization of the landfill afterwards. They can also consider the plan of the mayor to allocate five hectares as an area for a waste-to-energy (WTE) facility if it is found viable,” Cabrera explained.
The initial data gathering is being done even as the city’s Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) had yet to issue a notice of award to the consultant, Full Advantage.
Cabrera said that the notice of award for the P2.5-million contract may be out by the first week of October as a matter of “formalities”.
Cabrera said Full Advantage is already expected to conduct the closure plan through negotiated procurement after the failure of three public biddings.
Future plans
Earlier, Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña said that if feasible, he wanted a WTE facility to be built in the landfill that will incinerate the remaining garbage inside the facility and turn it into alternative fuel.
But for now, Osmeña said, the city will focus on the landfill’s actual rehabilitation.
Amid opposition from the minority, Barug Team Rama, the Cebu City Council earlier approved a P52.4-million budget for several projects involving the landfill.
These projects include: phase one of the construction of a perimeter fence worth P17.8 million; (2) phase two of the perimeter fence construction worth P17.3 million; (3) construction or rehabilitation of a causeway that connects the South Road Properties (SRP) to the landfill which costs P3.4 million; (4) work and financial plan for greening and vegetation of the landfill worth P780,000; (5) recovery of the landfill’s three-hectare service area which costs P10 million; and the purchase and installation of a new weighbridge scale at the landfill for P3 million.
Barug Team Rama councilors criticized the move to pass the budget even without an approved and final closure plan from the consultant.
They said waiting for the consultant’s closure plan before appropriating funds would have been more prudent to guide the city on the required infrastructure and subsequent management of the facility.
The Full Advantage website describes the company as a “business partner and solutions provider in the field of sustainable energy and environment” whose mission is “to help partners and clients harness untapped resources, creative processes, and appropriate technological solutions in generating cleaner, more affordable energy, conserving it and contributing to a greener, more sustainable environment.”
Its three main business activities include advisory and consulting; business or project development and climate change activities.
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