The Dumaguete City Council has placed six City barangays under a state of calamity due to the continued stench and contaminated air from the City’s open dumpsite in barangay Candau-ay.
Included in the declaration are barangays Candau-ay, Balugo, Cadawinonan, Junob, Batinguel and Camanjac.
The action of the Council was made on the recommendation of the City Disaster Risk-Reduction & Management Council chaired by Mayor Felipe Antonio Remollo.
The CDRRMC resolution stated that the open dumpsite in Candau-ay has been continuously producing contaminated air that may cause a lot of diseases, significant health and environmental threats both to the people involved in the operations and the wider general public.
Mayor Remollo, Vice-Mayor Alan Gel Cordova and the members of the City Council recognize the urgent need to control the foul and nauseating odor emanating from the dumpsite.
The city government is processing the purchase of the bio-enzyme that will not only neutralize the sickening odor but also hasten the decomposition of the trash so that it will significantly shrink in size and ensure relief of the nearby residents.
Meanwhile, a donor has generously provided the City with his product that is now being tested if it is the antidote to the foul smell and the solution to reduce the amount of trash in the dumpsite.
The Department of Environment & Natural Resources has approved the Safe Closure and Rehabilitation of the open dumpsite submitted by Mayor Remollo, but there is also a need to provide a site where all garbage will be properly disposed once the closure of the Candau-ay dumpsite is implemented.
The Remollo administration has purchased the proposed eight-hectare City Ecological Park & Waste Processing Facility in Candau-ay.
In the property, a P7 million Materials Recovery Facility is being constructed that will segregate garbage into bio-degradable, non-biodegradable, recyclable, and residual.
Also to be constructed in the property is a sanitary landfill where all residual wastes will be buried, with a machine that can convert plastic wastes into tables and chairs for use by schools.
Meanwhile, the 35-year-old Candau-ay open dumpsite will be enclosed with a fence to keep away unauthorized dumping of garbage while its rehabilitation into a park is completed. (Dems Demecillo)
br />
