City officials urged to solve landfill problem

CEBU, Philippines - The officials of Barangay Inayawan have asked the Cebu City government to provide a long lasting solution to the problems of the sanitary landfill which has long been due for closure after it exceeded the 15-year life span.

A resolution was passed by the Inayawan Barangay Council on August 4 urging the city government to come up with a well-planned, well-designed and well-executed solution to the problem before the landfill will be closed.

Barangay Captain Rustico Ignacio said the city should also have a transformation program for the landfill to something like a park or a playground. Ignacio explained that this is to help them recover from their reputation of being a garbage dumpsite in the city.

Such image made it very difficult for the barangay to attract serious investors and development.

Cebu City Councilor Jose Daluz III said, closing the landfill is their last option because as of now the city has yet to find a place to dump the 400 tons of garbage produced in the city everyday. Besides, Daluz said there are also people earning their livelihood from the dumpsite, which could be displaced.

He, however, admitted that the city should have an option to address the problem especially that the landfill is affecting the marketing of the South Road Properties.

Mayor Michael Rama, in a separate interview with reporters, said he will be issuing an executive order for the creation of a task force that will look into the landfill problem. He said the city government is not yet prepared to close it.

The 17-hectare landfill is already operating beyond its capacity. In fact, the government has been deodorizing it to minimize the odor that is affecting the prime economic zone of the city that it is trying to market to investors.

The P300 million Inayawan landfill started operation in 1998 and is supposed to have a life span of only 15 years. The landfill would have been closed in 2003 yet, but because of the absence of another facility it remains open until now. – THE FREEMAN