DUMAGUETE CITY — The city government of Dumaguete is getting ready to shut down its outlawed open dumpsite even as it reassured the public this will happen only once a sanitary landfill has been established to accommodate the city’s garbage.
The city government has been doing its best to locate a site for the sanitary landfill after it was notified a number of times already that the operation of open pit dumpsite is now illegal in the country.
City Information Officer Dems Rey Demecillo confirmed on Thursday that the Technical Working Group (TWG), which Mayor Felipe Antonio Remollo created in April 2017, is tasked to work on both the closure of the dumpsite and the establishment of a sanitary landfill.
It would cost the city an estimated PHP7.7 million to close the 30-year-old open dumpsite situated in the outskirts barangay of Candauay, according to Demecillo.
He explained that the city through the TWG is set to submit its final report on the closure of the dumpsite to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).
Part of the report includes proposals for a safe and sustainable rehabilitation plan on what to do with the piles of garbage, both bio-degradable and non-biodegradable, as well as toxic materials found in the dumpsite.
For the biodegradable waste, certain methods are to be adopted, such as the use of bio-enzymes to speed up the decomposition of waste, he explained.
The TWG is considering other processes to dispose of the garbage that has been collected over the past three decades and disposed of at the Candauay dumpsite.
Demecillo quoted the TWG report to be submitted this month to the DENR as saying that cost estimates for the dumpsite closure would cover the reshaping, compaction, slope stabilization, construction of embankment, placement of soil cover materials and vegetation (PHP5.8 million); construction of drainage, leachate pond, monitoring wells and gas vents (PHP1.5 million); construction of fencing and signage (PHP300,000), lighting of guardhouse and other auxiliaries (PHP150,000).
Remollo has repeatedly announced his intent to establish a sanitary landfill during his term, in accordance with the law.
The city government had earlier announced having found a 3.5-hectare lot in Candauay that would be suitable for the sanitary landfill. However, residents in that barangay and nearby areas like Barangay Camanjac are opposing the plan.
The mayor has asked the public to wait for the DENR’s recommendation on whether the proposed lot has passed the agency’s standards, Demecillo said.
Dumaguete generates some 80 tons of garbage each day. (PNA)
