Racing against time with the open dumpsite already “overflowing” with refuse, the Dumaguete City government is now considering establishing a sanitary landfill exclusive for the City’s use alone.
The national government has long outlawed open dumpsites, with local government units across the country receiving closure notices from the Department of Environment & Natural Resources.
Mayor Felipe Antonio Remollo announced during a meeting with barangay captains on Tuesday that the city government is considering a five-hectare lot in the outskirts that could be ideal for the sanitary landfill, said City Information Officer Dems Rey Demecillo.
According to Demecillo, the City’s plan to establish its own sanitary landfill came as LGUs that had potential sites have not yet acted on the proposal for a clustered facility to be shared with other nearby municipalities comprising the Metro Dumaguete.
A Technical Working Group had earlier visited possible sites for a clustered sanitary landfill in the municipalities of Valencia, Sibulan and Dauin, in response to public clamor against the city’s growing problem on solid waste disposal.
However, Demecillo said that the proposed clustered facility hit some snags, such as problems on community acceptance, prompting the Dumaguete mayor to consider building an “exclusive” sanitary landfill for city residents only.
Demecillo stressed that this is due to limited space which cannot accommodate trash from other towns, considering that a clustered sanitary landfill requires ten hectares contiguous while one that caters only to the needs of the city requires five hectares.
This is a “best effort” of the Mayor even while he is still open to other localities in Metro Dumaguete, Demecillo explained.
The city has found a potential site in the outskirts barangays of Camanjac and Candauay but this is subject to the approval of the DENR, Demecillo said.
In the meantime, the city government, through its Environment & Natural Resources Office is working double time to address the problem on garbage collection and disposal.
The City had recently acquired new garbage compactor trucks but the volume of trash at the open dumpsite in Candauay has alarmed residents, especially with piles of refuse spilling on to the road photographed and posted on social media.
Demecillo has assured that the city government is doing its best to address at the earliest time possible the garbage problem. (Judy Flores Partlow/PNA)
