Contractors stop trash collection

With no place to dump the tons of garbage generated daily in Metro Manila, most of the garbage contractors have been forced to cease their garbage collections.

Metropolitan Manila Development Authority assistant general manager for operations Rogelio Uranza confirmed yesterday that most, if not all, of the contractors have ceased collecting garbage from the households and the streets as they have no available site to dump the trash.

Uranza noted that the trucks used to haul garbage are now very much idle as they are already filled up and parked at their stations.

"There is a notice from the contractors that they were stopping (collections) because they had no place to go," Uranza said.

This developed as a number of contractors have been barred from entering some dumpsites located outside of Metro Manila.

Entry to dumpsites in Bulacan and Pampanga, which have been used as disposal areas of some Metro Manila local government units, has been prevented by local law enforcement units, based on a report that reached the MMDA.

According to the contractors, members of the Philippine National Police have set up checkpoints at the entrance of the two provinces with specific instructions to block the passage of garbage trucks from Metro Manila.

The order to prevent the entry was reportedly issued by the Central Luzon office of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.
Uranza expressed his concern about the current situation as most of Metro Manila has been left without a clear solution to the garbage problem.

Makati City, Navotas, Mandaluyong City, San Juan, Pateros, Taguig and Pasay were identified as critical areas with regard to the volume of garbage that has spilled over to the roads.

All of the seven LGUs have no existing disposal site for its garbage with the recent closure of the San Mateo landfill.

Pasay City was given a brief respite from the problem during the start of the year when a part of its garbage was collected and barged to the government’s sanitary landfill project in Semirara island, Antique.

However, because of a subsequent temporary restraining order that was issued against the dumping of garbage in Semirara, the entire operations of the contractor, R-II DMCI, was stopped.

The transfer station set up by R-II DMCI at Pier 18 in Manila was supposed to be used by the host-city, Quezon City and Pasay City.

With the issuance of the TRO, only Manila is being accommodated in the Pier 18 transfer station as there are no ongoing barging operations in Semirara.

C-5 in Taguig as well as most of the major roads in Pasay City have become eyesores as huge piles of garbage have been dumped on roads.

Only four of the LGUs have existing disposal areas available for their use at present, namely Malabon, Valenzuela, Las Piñas and Quezon City.