Inayawan landfill: No deal reached during conference

CEBU, Philippines – No agreement was achieved during a conference Assistant Solicitor General Herman Cimafranca initiated to address the issue on the Inayawan Sanitary Landfill at the Environmental Management Bureau-7 office in Banilad, Mandaue City yesterday.

Among those who attended the meeting were Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña; City Councilor Joel Garganera, City Council committee on environment chairman; former city councilor Nida Cabrera, whom the mayor had tasked to oversee the reopening of the landfill; and representatives from the Department of Health-7.

The meeting was meant to identify measures to address the situation, where the city has no alternative landfill while City Hall was already ordered by Environment Secretary Gina Lopez to close the facility due to its nearness to the sea. The smell from the landfill also reaches the South Road Properties.

The meeting, however, ended with no agreement being reached as both Osmeña and Garganera would not budge on their respective positions.

Osmeña had wanted the Court of Appeals to give the city government until January 1, 2017 to look for an alternative landfill. He said the city still has to conduct a public bidding for a contractor or a local government unit with a landfill that offers a tipping fee lower than what the previous administration was paying for a facility in Consolacion town in northern Cebu.

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources-7 has identified five operational landfill facilities in Cebu, two of which are private-owned and both located in Consolacion. The remaining three are in Talisay City, Asturias town, and Balamban town and operated by the respective local government unit.

Garganera, narrating what happened during the meeting, said the mayor reiterated on his statement that he wanted Lopez to clarify her order on the closure of the Inayawan landfill as soon as possible.

Lopez made the order following a phone call by Garganera, who told her that the seawater already encroaches into the landfill to as high as six to eight meters.

Last October 21, Lopez made an unscheduled visit to the landfill after she was asked to comment on its reopening.

Osmeña then presented her his plan to put up a waste-to-energy (WTE) facility to process the existing garbage at the landfill.

Cabrera earlier said the mayor directed her to have at least three companies to present their proposal on the establishment of the WTE facility. Two of the companies are Mega Pacific of the Pangilinan group and Bio-Plant Technology from Germany.

In a separate interview, Cabrera said Mega Pacific had already presented its proposal dated October 27 and was advised to present its final proposal as soon as possible.

Garganera, on the other hand, wanted the immediate closure of the landfill, arguing that residents near the area are at a high risk of acquiring different illnesses since the landfill does not comply with sanitary requirements mandated by DOH-7 and it is in fact violating environmental laws.

"It has to be now, it's immediate, it's urgent. We already gave him (Osmeña) enough time.  It's been eight weeks already since we pass the resolution authorizing him to negotiate and enter into a contract," Garganera said.

Because nothing came out of the meeting, Cimafranca requested both Osmeña  and Garganera to submit their position papers. —/ RHM (FREEMAN)