City uses part of Inayawan landfill as temporary garbage transfer station

CEBU, Philippines - The transfer station of the Cebu City Government in Inayawan will be temporarily relocated in the service area of the closed down Inayawan Sanitary Landfill while the original transfer station is being improved.

The Solid Waste Management Board (SWMB) of Cebu City has recommended the provisional relocation of the transfer station to the service area within the sanitary landfill as soon as repairs and improvement in the transfer station is completed.

Lawyer Jade Ponce, presiding officer of the SWMB said the original transfer station needs hardening of the floor, roofing and installing of a ramp for easy unloading and loading of the garbage.

The transfer station was closed almost a month ago because the garbage trucks were having a difficult time in the area that gets soft and muddy during bad weather.

Barangays were then asked to transport their garbage directly to the private landfill in Consolacion where the city is diverting its waste since the landfill was closed effective December 10.

But some barangays complained that their trucks are not in the condition to survive the rough roads going to Consolacion. The route they are taking is the Talamban-Pit-os then Cabangahan-Pulog, Consolacion to get to the private landfill.

They could not pass the national road in Mandaue because of the truck ban imposed by the Mandaue City Government.

Ponce clarified that the temporary transfer of the transfer station inside the sanitary landfill does not mean they have reopened the landfill.

He said there will be no dumping in the landfill but they will just temporarily use the service area which used to be the Materials Recovery Facility.

He said the re-opening of the landfill, like what some barangay captains are suggesting, is already out of the question.

“Ganahan sila mapreso? That would be in violation of the law. Let me clarify that our main goal is to remediate and recover the use of Inayawan landfill,” Ponce said.

Ponce said the original transfer station might be open again in two weeks.

For the meantime, all barangays whose garbage trucks could not proceed to Inayawan may unload their garbage at the temporary transfer station where garbage trucks are waiting to transport their garbage to Consolacion.

In a resolution, the SWMB recommended to the mayor to secure additional trash haulers and other heavy equipment to cover the shortage of available barangay and DPS service trucks. (FREEMAN)