Thursday, May 26, 2011
THE Cebu City Council yesterday declared the under a state of calamity.
The legislative body cited the absence of a proper wastewater, leachate (garbage juice) and sludge treatment facility inside the landfill, which poses risks on the environment and on the health of nearby residents.
The declaration would enable City Hall to use the local government’s calamity fund for the construction of a wastewater, leachate and sludge treatment facility inside the landfill. The treatment facility is said to cost at least P12 million.
The City also wants to use the calamity fund to rent heavy equipment for the centralized material recovery facility (MRF) in the 15.4-hectare facility in Barangay Inayawan.
Hazard
City Councilors Eduardo Rama and Nida Cabrera, in a resolution, pointed out that since the start of the operation of the landfill in 1998, there was no provision for a wastewater, leachate, and sludge treatment facility.
“This poses a potential environmental hazard on the coastal waters and health hazards on the residents,” the councilors said.
The councilors said liquid from garbage dumped at the landfill was found to have leaked out of the facility and polluted the Mactan Channel.
Rama, chairman of the committee on public services, justified the council’s declaration in an interview with GMA Balitang Bisdak yesterday.
Preparedness
“It’s more on calamity preparedness,” he said.
The council’s decision was endorsed by the Cebu City Disaster Coordinating Council (CCDCC).
“An impending calamity is seen if the City adopts no preventive measures to curtail the negative effects of the problems in the landfill,” a CCDCC board resolution said.
These problems, CCDCC said, include the defective equipment for garbage leveling, compacting and sloping of dumpsite, no proper treatment facility and the need for various equipment for the processing of biodegradable and non-biodegradable wastes inside the facility.
Last April 1, City Hall disallowed the dumping of unsegregated wastes—biodegradable matter mixed with non-biodegrdable materials—at the Inayawan landfill. Only segregated wastes are brought to the facility for processing.
Biodegradable materials are processed and placed in a compost to produce organic fertilizer. Non-biodegradable items that can be recycled or reused are set aside to be sold to junk shops.
Published in the Sun.Star Cebu newspaper on May 26, 2011.
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