Residents from Barangay Binaliw in Cebu City calls on Mayor-elect Edgardo Labella to close the landfill for health reasons. | Photos from former Apas Barangay Captain Ramil Ayuman
CEBU CITY, Philippines — The residents of Barangay Binaliw in Cebu City where the Binaliw Landfill is located are asking Mayor-elect Edgardo Labella to close the landfill for health reasons.
According to former Apas Barangay Captain Ramil Ayuman, who had been helping the residents gather signatures for their campaign, the developer of the 10-hectare landfill, promised that their sanitary enclosure would be safe from leaching and other health risks.
However, the residents in Binaliw are already complaining of foul smell especially when both Cebu City and Mandaue City began to throw their garbage in the landfill, following the temporary closure of the Consolacion landfill due to a landslide.
Read more: City Council okays disposing Mandaue’s garbage to Binaliw landfill
Ayuman said that he had been helping the residents because during his tenure as barangay chief of Apas, he was able to relocate some of his constituents to Binaliw, and caring for them in particular, he chose to give a hand to the campaign of these people.
So far, the signature campaign has reached more than 500 signatures from Barangay Binaliw and its neigbors, Barangay Pit-os and Barangay Pulangbato.
Read more: Operators get Cenro’s notice to proceed with Binaliw landfill operations
Ayuman said he was hoping that Labella would listen to the calls of the people in the area to temporarily close the landfill in order to investigate whether the developers followed the standards of operating a landfill and material recovery facility (MRF).
He said it would be necessary to ensure that the surrounding residential areas of the landfill would be safe from the dire effects of a 10-hectare garbage dump.
Labella has yet to receive the petition of the Binaliw residents but Ayuman said he was positive that the mayor-elect would have a solution to the problem./dbs