Dumpsite in Carmen town to be operational by 2020

CEBU, Philippines — The Cebu provincial government is eyeing next year to start the dumping of solid waste at the sanitary landfill that will be built in Barangay Dawis Sur in Carmen town.

The 10-hectare landfill will be built in an 18-hectare property owned by the Capitol and is projected to be usable 10 years after it is completed, according to Rodel Bontuyan, head of the Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office (PENRO).

The project will be implemented through a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) scheme with the Capitol and the Basic Environmental System Technology (BEST), the private proponent of the sanitary landfill.

Bontuyan said BEST is a Manila-based company and is the biggest sanitary landfill operator in the Philippines.

He added the facility will cater to waste coming from the towns and cities in northern Cebu. Based on the draft agreement of the project, a tipping fee of P700 will be collected per ton of waste.

From the tipping fee, the Capitol will get 25% of the share while the operator will get P75%.

The Capitol will not spend to develop the dumpsite as this will be the responsibility of the operator. However, the 1.3-kilometer road development going to the landfill will be shouldered by the provincial government, which has set aside a P10-million budget for this purpose.

Bontuyan said BEST has targeted between six months to one year to develop the sanitary landfill, thus it is projected to be operational by next year.

There will be a parallel memorandum of agreement between the Capitol and the towns for their waste disposal.

Bontuyan said there is already a resolution from the PPP selection committee of Cebu Province that was already signed by Governor Hilario Davide III and endorsed to the Provincial Board, giving the governor the authority to enter into a joint venture agreement with the project proponent of the landfill.

The PENRO head sees the need for a sanitary landfill in the province since the island generates 1.2 million kilos of garbage every day, based on the Waste Analysis and Characterization Study conducted on March 2017. — BRP (FREEMAN)