Carmen residents: Put on hold Dawis Sur landfill project

CEBU CITY, Philippines — Majority of the residents in the municipality of Carmen, who attended the public hearing for the construction of a sanitary landfill, want the project to be put on hold.

The public consultation started at around 9 a.m. on Monday, April 1, which was held at the conference room of the vice governor in the Legislative Building of the Capitol Compound.

This is in compliance with the Cebu Provincial Ordinance No. 2015-04 or the Province of Cebu Integrated Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Code.

Board member Miguel Magpale headed the acitivity.

Present during the activity were Provincial Legal Officer, Lawyer Orvi Ortega; the private proponent of the project; local officials in the town of Sogod and Carmen;  experts; and residents in different barangays in Carmen town.

Most of the residents were afraid, that the water system in the town might get contaminated if the project would be pursued.

Read more: Landfill site eyed in Carmen town

The 10-hectare facility will be built in an 18-hectare lot that was owned by the province of Cebu in barangay Dawis Sur, Carmen, a northern town, estimated to be at least 34 km from Cebu City.

“Kaming mga taga Dawis-Sur ug taga Polacion mag-antos mi in 23 years in the making. Ang ako lang sir, i-hold lang sa ni niyo. Okay, pag-satisfy, dili nata mobalik anang inyong mga documentation. Okay nami ana, dili mi mosupak kay kasabot mi ug balaod,” Bayani Espina said.

(We, who are from Dawis-Sur and those from the Poblacion, it will be 23 years of suffering for us. What I want, sir, is that you put on hold the project. If all the requirements would be accomplished then we would not have to look at the documentation again. We are okay with that. We will not oppose that because we understand the law.)

Espina is a Grab driver and a resident of barangay Poblacion, Carmen.

Some residents are even asking to transfer the construction of the facility to another location.

But for Emelita Aguinaldo, Basic Environmental Systems Technology (BEST) senior vice president, the possibility of the water system getting contaminated with the project would be very remote.

“We designed the landfill based from US Standard more than the standard of RA 9003 (Ecological Solid Waste Management Act),” Aguinaldo said.

BEST is a sanitary landfill operator in the country that is based in Manila.

Read more: Cebu execs study Tacloban landfill to prepare for Carmen project

Ortega, for his part, said that the construction of the sanitary landfill facility, would address the problem on garbage management and disposal among LGUs in the northern part of Cebu.

“So karon man lang gani ni nga dunay problema ang mga lungsod kay gipadalhan sila og notice of violation sa Ombudsman (tungod sa dili maayo nga pag-handle sa basura). Kadtong dose kabuok nga mga lungsod,” Ortega said.

(It is just now that we are here after the towns had problems on the notice of violation from the Ombudsman (because of their handling of the garbage problem) — those 12 towns.)

He also clarified that the residents were not against the project, but they only wanted this to be put on hold, in order to answer their queries especially on technical matters.

After the public hearing, Magpale, however, assured the residents that they would not pursue the project until all their needs and concerns would be properly addressed.

“Kami sa Provincial Board, i-approve natin itong project na to as soon as ma-satisfy ang all the needs and concerns of the people in all of these project, especially sa mga taga Carmen,” Magpale said.

(We at the Provincial Board, we would only approve this project once all the needs and the concerns of the people in all of these projects, especially those from Carmen town.)

The project would still need the approval of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan (SP) in order to authorize the governor to undergo a joint-venture agreement with the proponent who would manage the project for up to 23 years./dbs