THE Cebu City Council has authorized Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña to enter into a contract with a private company to plan the rehabilitation of the Inayawan Sanitary Landfill.
Councilors Sisinio Andales and Eugenio Gabuya passed a resolution allowing the mayor to enter into a “Consultancy Agreement” with Full Advantage Phils. International, Inc. for the formulation of a Closure and Rehabilitation Plan for the Inayawan Sanitary Landfill for a period of three and a half months.
This in compliance with the National Solid Waste Management Commission (NSWMC) in its “Guidebook for Safe Closure of Disposal Sites.”
“(The commission) provides that ‘a municipal dumping site where waste-filling activities have been completed shall be closed properly for the safe storage of waste and prevention of pollution to the surrounding environment’,” Andales said in his resolution.
Last December 2016, the Court of Appeals directed the city government to permanently cease and desist from dumping or disposing garbage or solid waste at the Inayawan dumpsite and to continue its rehabilitation.
Under the agreement, the work to be undertaken by the Full Advantage Phils. International, includes data collection and site assessment.
Full Advantage will do the necessary data collection and analysis of the current condition of the landfill.
They will also prepare the closure plan which includes a review and evaluation of the relevant information on the site that are essential for an environmentally sound closure and improvement of the facility.
Andales added that Full Advantage will also prepare the rehabilitation program.
“This to determine the extent of environmental risk and hazard to the surrounding community brought by the operation of the landfill,” Andales stated.
The consultancy agreement will cost the city government P2,474,550 to be charged against the 2018 Environmental Guarantee Fund.
However, the council will still conduct an executive session to discuss the consultancy agreement with the contractor and the executive department.