P11 million pushed for treatment of landfill's wastewater

CEBU, Philippines - To avoid penalty that would be imposed by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, two city councilors have pushed for an appropriation of P11.8 million for the construction of wastewater treatment facility for leachate produced by the Inayawan Sanitary Landfill.

The DENR had given the city government until March 31 to improve the landfills’ waste discharge quality otherwise they will impose a penalty, a minimum of P10,000 a day, once the city fails to meet the deadline.

Councilors Eduardo Rama and Nida Cabrera, in an interview with reporters yesterday, said the amount will be used for the establishment of a wastewater treatment facility at the landfill. The amount will be charged against the city’s calamity fund.   The leachate produced by the landfill must undergo treatment process to prevent further contamination of nearby water resources.

The treatment process will remove the contaminants in wastewater so that when it is disposed to the drainage or other waterways, it will not cause pollution.

Rama said the wastewater treatment facility they are planning to install is something that may be used in the landfill even after the facility will finally shut down.

The city government plans to shut down the landfill within this year as per the recommendation of the EMB-Solid Waste Management Division.

“The installation of proper treatment facility will improve the water quality, which is in compliance with the Republic Act 9275 otherwise known as the Clean Water Act of 2004,” Rama and Cabrera said in the proposed resolution they have filed before the City Council.

Councilor Rama said Mayor Michael Rama has already tasked them to study further the offer of a Malaysian company to operate a sanitary landfill in the city.

“The recommendation of (City Hall consultant on environment) Lawyer Janeses Ponce is not yet final. We are instructed by the mayor to study it further,” the councilor said.

Berhad, which constructed the Bukit Tagar Sanitary Landfill in Malaysia, earlier proposed to operate a similar facility in Cebu City.

But Ponce recommended to the mayor to reject the proposal because it violates the requirements of the Republic Act 9003 or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act, which discourages sanitary landfills regardless of the technology employed. (FREEMAN)