ILOILO – Twenty-eight municipalities in this province may soon dump their residual wastes in the sanitary landfill of Passi City.
The Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office (PENRO) is optimistic that the 12-hectare P308-million Integrated Waste Management Facility in Barangay Aglalana, Passi City will start operating this month.
“(It is) more than 95 percent (finished) now. By mid-May hopefully maka-operate na sila,” said Mitzi Peñaflorida, senior environment management specialist of PENRO, in an interview with Panay News.
A sanitary landfill is a solid waste management facility that utilizes an engineered method of waste disposal, primarily for municipal solid waste.
An “engineered” method of landfilling means the garbage is handled at a disposal facility that is designed, constructed and operated in a manner protective of public health and the environment.
Passi City’s sanitary landfill was supposed to operate by the last week of April but the construction was delayed as well as the processing of documents of the 28 cluster towns due to restrictions brought about by the coronavirus pandemic.
“Bawal ang open dumps for solid waste,” Peñaflorida stressed, reiterating Section 37 of Republic Act 9003 (Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000), “thus the need nga maka-operate dayun ang sanitary landfill.”
The Integrated Waste Management Facility would cluster 28 local government units (LGUs): Oton, Tubungan, Zarraga, Badiangan, Bingawan, Cabatuan, Calinog, Janiuay, Mina, Pototan, Anilao, Banate, Barotac Nuevo, Dingle, Dueñas, Dumangas, San Enrique, Ajuy, Balasan, Barotac Viejo, Batad, Carles, Concepcion, Lemery, San Dionisio, San Rafael, Sara, and Passi City.
These LGUs have signed memorandums of agreement (MOA) with the local government of Passi City.
Here are the salient points of the agreements:
* All parties bind themselves to use the Passi City Integrated Waste Management Facility as the final disposal facility for solid waste.
* For this purpose, “solid waste” means waste produced from activities within the territorial jurisdiction of the parties which include a combination of discarded household, commercial, non-hazardous institutional and industrial waste, and street litter, but shall not include hazardous waste or unacceptable waste.
* The parties shall extend the necessary assistance to the City of Passi to ensure proper waste management, including but not limited to the passage of the relevant resolutions and budget appropriations ordinances, timely issuance of necessary licenses and permits, and provisions of rights-of-way.
The LGUs agreed for a tipping fee of P749 per ton of garbage delivered.
“We hope nga makasabat ini sa problema sang aton nga mga banwa kun diin nila i-haboy ang ila basura,” said Peñaflorida.
The construction of Passi City’s sanitary landfill started in October 2019.
It can accommodate 200 to 375 tons of residual waste daily.
The Basic Environment Systems Technologies, Inc. (BEST) is the entity in-charge of the construction and operation of the sanitary landfill.
BEST estimates that the facility would be fully loaded after seven years./PN
