BAGUIO CITY – Mayor Mauricio G. Domogan admitted that the local government was able to receive some twenty two proposals from different companies for the use of the latest technology in effectively and efficiently addressing its existing solid waste disposal woes.
However, the local chief executive explained that while the technology in the disposal of the city’s increasing volume of solid waste is being evaluated, the local government is currently looking for a suitable land that could be used for the put up of an integrated solid waste disposal facility that will incorporate a multi-approach for the said purpose.
“The selection of a suitable land area for the put up of the desired integrated solid waste disposal facility and the appropriate technology that will be used for the said facility is not as easy as picking apples considering that the same has to pass through stringent processes pursuant to the rules and regulations imposed by concerned government regulatory agencies,” Domogan stressed.
Included in the local government’s plan to put up an integrated solid waste disposal facility in whatever available land area is the centralized materials recovery facility, anaerobic digester, waste-to-energy plant, Environmental Recycling System (ERS) machines, special waste treatment plant and hazardous and toxic waste treatment plant.
Domogan stated that the local government is setting its sights on the 29 hectares in Itogon town that was ceded to the city by Benguet corporation (BC) as the possible area where the integrated solid waste disposal facility will be established that will cater to the solid waste disposal problems of other towns in Benguet, particularly, La Trinidad, Itogon, Sablan, Tuba and Tublay.
According to him, one of the problems that was encountered by the local government in finding a permanent solution to the city’s garbage disposal woes is the absence of a suitable land area for the purpose considering that even the 139-hectare city-owned lot in Sto. Tomas School Area is encountering issues on claims which could not just be easily set aside.
Currently, he emphasized that the doable means to prevent the occurrence of a serious garbage problem in the city is the hauling of the generated residual waste to the existing sanitary landfill in Urdaneta City, Pangasinan while efforts are being done to compel the residents to strictly adhere to the segregation of waste of waste at source to help in reducing the volume of waste that is being hauled out of the city to lessen the expenses for the said purpose.
He asserted that the local government had never been remised in doing its job to find a permanent solution to the city’s solid waste disposal problem but the way to go now is the adoption of the suitable latest technology that will put an end to the city’s garbage disposal woes that have been existent over the past decade.
The local government attempted to purchase a land in Sablan, Benguet for the said purpose but the same did not pass the standards of the National Solid Waste Commission (NSWMC), thus, the city opted to go to Burgos or Rosario, La Union where there were identified suitable lands for the purpose but the existing provincial ordinance of La Union prohibiting the disposal of garbage from areas outside La Union from being dumped in any part of the province hindered the realization of the said endeavour.
By Dexter A. See
