P1M budget for Inayawan landfill deodorizers okayed

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 FILE PHOTO

THE Cebu City Council has approved yet another P1 million budget for the Inayawan landfill. This time, it is for the purchase of deodorizers for the landfill’s service area which is set to be cleared by the city.

The amount will be charged to the city’s Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) funds.

According to Councilor Eugenio Gabuya Jr., deputy mayor on public services, the deodorizers cost P20 per cubic meter and they are projecting that they need 121,000 cubic meters of deodorizers to be used for the five-hectare service area inside the landfill.

“The needed amount goes up to P2.4 million. But we just ask for P1 million so we would know the situation in the service area. If we need more, then we will ask for more later,” he said.

P52M approved

The Cebu City Council has earlier approved P52 million worth of projects for the rehabilitation and remediation of the closed Inayawan landfill. This included a P10 million allocation for the rental of heavy equipment needed to clear the service area.

Another P17 million was approved for the construction of a perimeter fence for the landfill.

Gabuya earlier said the service area will be used as a site for the establishment of a centralized materials recovery facility (MRF) for the city which will be in compliance of Republic Act 9003 or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act.

MRF plan questioned

During the council’s regular session last week, some opposition councilors questioned the plan to put up an MRF inside the landfill which was already ordered permanently closed by the Court of Appeals (CA) since December last year.

Councilor Joel Garganera said if there is an MRF inside the landfill, then the city’s and the barangays’ trucks will technically have to dump its garbage in the MRF which is inside the landfill.

He said this is a violation of the CA order.

“What was in the court order is to have a post-closure and rehabilitation plan. When you talk about an MRF, there is dumping and operation there inside the landfill. Don’t circumvent the order of the court. We may earn the ire of the court for not following their order,” Garganera said.

Cite for contempt

Councilor Raymond Alvin Garcia agreed saying that the court has not specifically defined in its order what kind of “dumping” is prohibited inside the landfill.

Garcia said the court may cite the city for contempt if it sees that the operation of an MRF inside the landfill involves dumping of garbage.

“We don’t like that to happen. We have to be on the safe side here,” he added.

No dumping involved

But Gabuya defended his proposal saying that operating the MRF does not involve dumping.

He said the garbage will just be segregated inside the MRF so that only residual wastes will be hauled and taken to a private landfill by the city or its private hauler.

He said the city should not be afraid.

In order to break the argument, Councilor Margarita Osmeña suggested that the city should just approve whatever is being proposed to be done inside the landfill.

MRF POWE

Anyway, she said that the program of works and estimates (POWE) for the MRF will still have to go back and be approved by the City Council.

By then, she said the city can coordinate with the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) if this kind of MRF is allowed inside the landfill or not.

The City Council then approved the purchase of the deodorizers. However, Councilors Philip Zafra, Jocelyn Pesquera and Garcia decided to abstain from the approval.