Collapsed Davao waste facility closed permanently

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has permanently closed the Davao City Sanitary Landfill after the extension of the facility’s temporary waste disposal permit expired.

The Environmental Management Bureau, an attached agency of the DENR, said the city government has been directed to submit within 30 days a plan detailing the safe closure and rehabilitation of the facility.

“To avert public health and environmental risks posed by the city-wide garbage accumulation, waste disposal services are being transitioned to an operational ‘interim cell’ within the designated portion of a new sanitary landfill,” the DENR-EMB office in Davao region said in a statement.

The closure of the facility located in Barangay Carmen in Tugbo district stemmed from a trash slide on May 20, which left two people dead, two injured and one missing.

A day after the incident, the DENR-Davao suspended the operation of the landfill, citing violation of Republic Act 9003 or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act. 

The local government was granted a temporary window for the resumption of the garbage disposal operation until June 16. 

On June 17, EMB regional director Alnulfo Alvarez and DENR-Davao chief Ma. Mercedes Dumagan signed an order permanently stopping all activities, except for critical mitigation and rehabilitation works, at the old landfill.

The new facility’s interim cell has been completed and ready to receive and process garbage as of Thursday, the DENR said.

The local DENR-EMB office said it would monitor the city government’s compliance with the closure order, to ensure public safety and environmental sustainability.