Rama says urgent solution needed for trash problems in Barangay Inayawan

Trash is piling up at the Inayawan Landfill as seen in this photo taken on June 22, 2021. CDN Digital photo | Delta Letigio

CEBU CITY, Philippines—Trash is piling up in Barangay Inayawan as the Barangay Binaliw landfill has closed its doors to Cebu City garbage due to unclear stipulations in the contract regarding where the trash must come from.

The Binaliw Landfill reportedly would not accept trash directly from the city as the trash must come from a transfer station.

The Department of Public Services (DPS) reportedly ordered all city garbage trucks to a transfer station, thus, all trash from the 80 barangays of the city is being sent to the transfer station in Barangay Inayawan.

The problem now is that Inayawan is receiving more than its usual load and couldn’t cope with all the trash arriving.

Acting Mayor Michael Rama said the problem is a matter of urgency as the piling trash will have both health and environmental impacts.

“I will have to call an emergency meeting today (Tuesday, June 22, 2021) with the DPS, with all stakeholders, to discuss how we will solve that problem. We should consider the matter urgent,” said Rama.

The acting mayor also wants the Department of Engineering and Public Works (DEPW) to attend the meeting to address the broken road in the area since more trucks will be passing through the road.

CDN Digital visited the transfer station on Tuesday, June 22, 2021, and noticed trucks lined up along the road known as the “White Road.”

Another problem noticed was the volume of mud on the road and the condition of the road itself, which is really in bad shape. CDN Digital noticed workers taking turns shoveling the mud from the badly damaged road.

Cebu City garbage trucks at the Inayawan transfer station. CDN Digital photo | Delta Letigio

Over 20 trucks were lined up at the White Road, waiting to dump tons of garbage collected from 80 barangays in the city and pile them into a transfer station with a size of less than a hectare.

One of the workers told CDN Digital that they suffer through the mud on a daily basis as the road has been damaged for some time now. It worsened in the past few days as more garbage trucks have been arriving at the transfer station.

“Ingani gyod na taga adlaw diri, lapok kaayo unya ang dalan guba,” said the worker.

(It’s really like that here, very muddy and the road very dilapidated.)

The transfer station, where the garbage should stay for only 24 hours before being hauled into a landfill, now looks like a mountain of garbage.

The trucks hauling garbage to the Binaliw Landfill cannot handle the sheer volume of the trash piling up.

The muddy and dilapidated road going to the Inayawan transfer station. CDN Digital photo | Delta Letigio

Inayawan Barangay Captain Kirk Bryan Repollo said he was surprised when Councilor Franklyn Ong informed barangay chiefs that Binaliw is no longer accepting garbage from the city during their Liga ng mga Barangays (LNB) meeting on Monday, July 21, 2021.

This meant that even north district barangays would be dumping their garbage in Inayawan. In the past, they would dump their garbage directly to the Binaliw Landfill.

The barangay chief is concerned about how the dilapidated White Road can accommodate double the number of trucks per day, how this would affect the traffic in the barangays, and most importantly, how the piling trash would affect the health of the people.

“Amoa lang, ayuhon nila ang dalan. Daliun nila og ayo kay grabe na gyod ka guba unya nagka daghan na ang mga trucks nga moanhi. Unsa man gyod ilang plano sa atong basura? Kay ang Inayawan maoy nagsalo sa basura sa tibuok syudad,” said Repollo.

(We just hope they  fix the road. They have to fix it as soon as possible because it’s very dilapidated and the number of trucks passing has increased. What really is their plan for our garbage? Because Inayawan is already receiving all the trash of the whole city.)

CDN Digital tried to reach DPS head, Lawyer John Jigo Dacua, but he has not replied to queries as of 2 p.m. on Tuesday, June 22, 2021.

/bmjo

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