Cebu city mayor weighs unsolicited proposal to rehabilitate 15-hectare landfill

INVEST IN DUMPSITE?  

Scavengers find anything useful at the Inayawan landfill. (CDN FILE PHOTO)

Area to be fenced  after families evacuated from  Inayawan

First, the Inayawan landfill was closed in mid-January. Then, it was cleared of settlers.

Next is a proposal to fence the property.

All this sets the stage for the rehabilitation of the 15-hectare dumpsite  so it can attract investors and be redeveloped as a commercial area, according to reliable sources.

The present  site   has  also been a source of complaints about the stench of garbage reaching project sites in the South Road Properties (SRP) being developed as an upscale lifestyle district with condominiums, malls and restaurants.

Cebu City Mayor Michael  Rama is expected to announce in the next few days  a plan to rehabilitate the landfill, said Solid Waste Management Board (SWMB) head Jade Ponce.

He would not provide details.

“The Joint Venture Selection Committee (JV-SC) and the mayor will make the formal announcement in the coming days. I cannot preempt that,” he told Cebu Daily News.

From other sources it was learned that a Korean company has offered to provide the technology to clean up the 20-year-old dumpsite.

The JV-SC , chaired by City Administrator Lucelle A. Mercado, is reviewing an unsolicited  proposal.

READ: Rama targets developing Inayawan landfill site for residential, commercial dev’t

Rama announced earlier this month in broad strokes as plan to transform the landfill into a park as well as a residential and commercial area.

He visited South Korea last year to learn how a landfill could be redeveloped and its commercial value unlocked.

Whatever he decides, a joint venture agreement would need the authorization of the Cebu City Council.

The landfill is situated at the edge of the SRP separated by a small channel of water or estuary that leads to the sea.

Left on its own, the mounds of garbage that reach 30 feet high are hazardous , prone to fire outbreaks due to methane buildup and a violation of the Clean Air Act and environmental laws.

But if the vast area is developed properly, its location next to ongoing developments of SM and Filinvest has the potential of drawing high commercial value.

Clearing of the area started with the forced evacuation about two weeks ago of around 70 families living at the base of the hills of trash.

They were told to move out immediately because the site was a “danger zone” and prone to  trash slides.

The affected families are temporarily staying at the Inayawan Elementary Schoo but the city government has no relocation site prepared yet  before school starts in June and the Brigada Eskwela cleanup starts in May.

A 2.1-hectare private lot  in sitio San Isidro Labrador, which the city has been trying  buy, is still under negotiation.

Last week, a fire broke out in the middle of the landfill,  not an unusual incident during hot temperatures of summer.

The Cebu city disaster office declared a state of calamity in the entire landfill.

READ: Rama orders evacuation of families off Inayawan landfill

The  declaration would allow the city government to use disaster funds to construct a perimeter fence, as proposed by City Engineer Jose Marie N. Poblete.

“We have had this plan to fence the area for so long. Right now, we’re just looking for the funds. Hopefully, we can charge it to the city’s disaster funds,” Poblete said.

Ponce said construction of the perimeter fence has nothing to do with the unsolicited proposal to redevelop the landfill.

“With or without the unsolicited proposal, fencing is a practical method to deter future settlers from setting up dwellings in a place unsuitable for humans and a danger to life and limb. It doesn’t take a genius to know that a landfill is no place for people to reside,” Ponce said./ WITH XAVIER INTERN ANA LIZA JANE E. BANAYNAL