BAGUIO CITY – The city government will start realizing accumulated savings mounting to P11 million annually following the transfer of its dumping area from the Urdaneta City sanitary landfill in Pangasinan to the Capas landfill in Tarlac due to cheaper offers, Mayor Mauricio G. Domogan said here.
Domogan explained the sudden transfer of its dumping area to Capas, Tarlac late last year was triggered by the reduction in the tipping fee being collected by the Metro Clark Sanitary Landfill from P800 per ton to P500 per ton.
“We have no option but to transfer our existing dumpsite to Capas because the city government continues to exert all available efforts to significantly reduce the hauling cost of residual waste from the city to its designated sanitary landfill,” Domoggan stressed.
According to hi, the savings to be realized by the city government will be used to bankroll the implementation of other priority development projects in the different barangays and contribute in enhancing the delivery of basic services to the people of the city.
Previously, the city has been spending around P1,600 per ton of residual waste that will be hauled out of the city which is inclusive of hauling cost and tipping fee per ton while the prevailing price per ton now that the tipping fee has been lowered is now P1,300 per ton.
Domogan pointed out the hauling of the city’s residual waste to the available sanitary landfill is just a temporary solution to the city’s garbage disposal problem because the city government continues to search for available means to solve the problem and that priority is given to the establishment of its own integrated solid waste disposal system in barangay Sto. Tomas Apugan within the 139-hectare land that was earlier declared for city needs.
He explained it is still best for the city’s disposal facility to be located within the city so that the local government will have absolute control over its operation unlike when such facility is located outside the city where the host communities will dictate upon the local government on what would be allowed to be dumped in the area.
He admitted the city government is spending a total of P100 million annually just for the hauling of the city’s residual waste outside the city.
According to him, the city owning its sanitary landfill and integrated solid waste management facility will be beneficial to the neighboring towns of La Trinidad, Itogon, Sablan, Tuba and Tublay considering that the concerned localities will be paying the required tipping fee for dumping their waste into the state-of-the-art garbage disposal area.
The local chief executive cited the city government is really inclined to pursue short, medium and long term solutions to the garbage disposal problem before it will be too late in order to prevent the occurrence of perennial garbage problem in the city in the future.
The city generates around 366 tons of garbage per day with approximately less than one half of the volume being taken cared by multinational companies in terms of disposal while the rest of the garbage generated in the city is being segregated for composting, recycling and haling out of the city.
He emphasized the city has already segregated the 50-hectare portion of the city’s property in Sto. Tomas Apugan where portions of the solid waste disposal facility will be built and be operational in the future. By Dexter A. See
