A SERVICE provider has started disposing on Wednesday the three container vans of rotten meat that have been left unclaimed at the Cebu International Port (CIP) for more than a year now.
Edmund Leopoldo, environmental division manager for Cebu Ports Authority (CPA) said the service provider RRDS Petro-Chemical Indutries Inc. is using thermal destruction method to burn the rotten meat at 1,500 degrees Fahrenheit. The ashes will be used as organic fertilizer.
An estimated 65 tons of rotten meat were inside the three container vans, which arrived at CIP more than a year ago.
Leopoldo said some of the meats came from Belgium. The service provider sealed the vans to prevent foul smell before transporting them to their compound in Barangay Umapad, Mandaue City for burning.
The portion of the CPA where the three container vans of rotten meat were stuck was disinfected to eliminate smell and the health risk it posed to employees.
Leopoldo said the CPA shouldered the disposal cost.
Engr. William Cuñado, regional director of Environmental Management Bureau (EMB-7), earlier suggested that the CPA should have its own disposal facility in order to prevent the same situation where foul odor had reached neighboring establishments.
But Leopoldo said that building a disposal facility is not practical since it (incidents involving rotten meat left at the port) is an isolated case.
“We can still tap some companies that have the expertise,” Leopoldo said.