LA TRINIDAD, Benguet December 10 – The municipal government is still searching for a suitable solid waste management technology in order to solve the town’s solid waste disposal problems brought about by the rapidly increasing volume of garbage generated by the significant increase in the population, Mayor Edna C. Tabanda said here recently.
The local chief executive cited the local government did not stop evaluating numerous proposals on how to effectively and efficiently handle its solid waste even if it already started the development of cell No. 3 of its Alno controlled dumpsite which will form part of the interventions to prevent the occurrence of a serious garbage problem by the locality.
“We continue to accept proposals on the suitable solid waste management technology that could be applied in the municipality for us to have a long-term solution to our solid waste disposal concerns. We want to address the garbage problem the soonest so as not to put an added burden to the local government in the future,” Tabanda stressed.
Earlier, the municipal government appropriated more than P7 million to improve cell No. 3 of its Alno controlled sanitary landfill in order to effectively and efficiently address its existing garbage concern while the appropriate solid waste technology will be determined by the municipal solid waste management board.
She pointed out the approach of the local government in addressing the garbage problem could be integrated or a combination of various proven technologies in order to lessen the expenses of the locality in solid waste management.
At present, the municipality has embraced the hauling of its residual waste from the locality to the Capas engineered sanitary landfill in Tarlac as a temporary solution to the garbage disposal concerns that cropped up after the closure of its Alno controlled dump facility.
However, Mayor Tabanda explained that there is already a need to tap the suitable technology simultaneous with the operation of cell No. 3 of its Alno controlled dump facility as one of the much cheaper modes of solving the town’s garbage problem.
According to her, the local government also supports the establishment of a common engineered sanitary landfill within the Baguio-La Trinidad-Itogon-Sablan-Tuba-Tublay (BLISTT) because European urban planners who came to conduct a study in the said areas recommended the put up of a landfill area somewhere in Tuba but personal interests of some politicians were able to prevail and impeded the realization of such long-term plan.
She claimed that if concerned agencies will be able to identify a suitable area for the establishment of a landfill for the BLISTT communities, the municipal government will fully support the realization of the project because it will definitely contribute in the formulation of long-term solutions to the garbage probes of urban areas like Baguio City and La Trinidad.