LA TRINIDAD, Benguet – The municipal government disclosed that Cell No. 3 of the town’s Alno controlled dump facility will be operational by early next year after all the remaining work will be completed by the end of this year that will cause the virtual stoppage of the hauling of the generated residual waste outside the municipality.
Mayor Romeo K. Salda said that the contractor of the Alnto dumpsite’s Cell No. 3 was directed to work on the completion of the project so that the local government will be able to use the facility in the disposal of the generated residual waste and to lessen the expenses of the local government in the hauling of the waste to the Urdaneta engineered sanitary landfill.
La Trinidad is one of the few municipalities in the Cordillera that was able to establish its controlled dump facility pursuant to the provisions of Republic Act (RA) 9003 or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000 requiring local governments nationwide to close the operation of their closed dumpsites and replace the same with sanitary landfills or controlled dump facilities for the protection of the health of the people and the preservation of the good state of the environment within their areas of jurisdiction.
“We are keeping our fingers crossed that the ongoing works in Cell No. 3 of our Alno controlled dump facility could be completed the soonest so that we will no longer have to haul our residual waste to Urdaneta City, Pangasinan and for us to save on the funds being used for the said purpose,” Mayor Salda stressed.
Local chief executive admitted that the construction of Cell No. 3 of the Alno controlled dump facility had been delayed because of unforeseen circumstances that were immediately provided with the appropriate solutions aside from the additional funding requirements but the project will be completed by the end of the year for the said facility to be utilized starting next year.
According to him, the local government utilizes its purchased garbage trucks in the hauling of the town’s generated waste outside the municipality that is why the only expenditures being shouldered by the municipality include the wear and tear of the trucks as well as the gasoline, oil and maintenance of the vehicles and the prescribed tipping fee in the destination where the garbage will be dumped.
Mayor Salda remains optimistic that the Asian Development Bank (ADB) will reconsider its previous position so that it will include as part of its priority the construction of Cell No. 4 of the town’s Alno dump facility which could expand the lifespan of the dumpsite to at least 12 years, including the 3 to 4-year lifespan of Cell No. 3.
Previously, the ADB committed to fund the construction of Cell No. 4 of the dump facility considering that the same is aligned with the thrust of the international financial institution on effective and efficient solid waste management but the committed funding was recently held back because of the reported sudden change in priorities of the prestigious funding institution.
Salda claimed that the proposed development of the Alno controlled dump facility could make the same one of the most sophisticated dump facilities in the country which has a lifespan of more than 8 years.
By HENT
