Quezon City Mayor Herbert Bautista has asked the environment department to allow the city government to manage the dumping area that will be made available to Quezon City, saying the city has done well in taking care of the engineered sanitary landfill in Barangay Payatas.
The mayor made the appeal in his opening statement during the dialogue between the Quezon City government and the Department of the Environment and Natural Resources.
DENR officials led by Secretary Roy Cimatu and city officials convened on Monday to discuss the impending total shutdown of the Payatas landfill.
“I don’t know if they have made a comparative study of Payatas, Vitas (Tondo, Manila) and Rodriguez, Rizal. But, I think the Quezon City engineered sanitary landfill facility was managed very well compared to the other two. Moving forward by next year, kung kami magtatapon na sa Vitas at Rodriguez, we are hoping that we will also be able to manage Vitas and Rodriguez para hindi rin umapaw ang basura,” Mayor Bautista said.
Garbage collection services in Quezon City continues round-the-clock despite the temporary closure of the Payatas landfill. The waste facility was ordered closed by the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority last July 27 due to heavy rainbs as haulers were having difficulty maneuvering in the area.
The Payatas dump is due for closure at the end of the year. Quezon City has been preparing for this eventuality.
The city government has appealed the reopening of the Payatas landfill.
“Sinabi ni Mayor na kung puwede, we are appealing na kung hindi ipapare-open ang Payatas hanggang December 31, at least for the next two months buksan ito para makapag-clean up at makapag-prepare, ang mga logistics namin for the closure. We’re looking at the December 31 deadline,” Frederika Rentoy, chief QC Environmental Protection and Waste Management Department said.
“We are preparing for the whole system like the refleeting kasi ngayon marami tayong trucks na maliliit. These are designed sa mga narrow roads ng Quezon City. Ang dami nating narrow roads and we have to do door-to-door collection. Kaya kailangan mag-refleet into bigger truck or add bigger trucks para maging appropriate naman sila for the long haul sa Rodriguez, Rizal,” Rentoy added.
Quezon City has stopped dumping operations in Vitas because of turnaround time issues.
“We tried Vitas pero we stop doing dumping at Vitas marine loading station sa Pier 18. Unang-una, the turn around time was very long, mga around 8 hours, tapos ang queuing time is around three to five hours tapos kulang pa ang mga barges nila and aside from that, it’s more expensive because may mga barging fees pa ‘dyan,” Rentoy said.
Garbage collection concerns may be relayed to the EPWMD by calling 988-4242 local 8350. | Quezon City Public Affairs Department PAISO
