BAGUIO CITY - Several Korean organizations committed a donation of $40 million dollars (around P1.85 billion) to help the city government construct a sanitary landfill that will solve the prime tourist destination's garbage woes.
Sanitary landfill technology (Pollution technology review)
Mayor Mauricio G. Domogan said the Korean grant will surely provide the local government with several options on how to permanently solve its solid waste management problem which has hounded local residents over the past two years.
Aside from pursing the construction of its sanitary landfill planned in Barangay Sto. Tomas Apugan, here, Domogan said t he grant will also be sufficient to be utilized for the establishment of more materials recovery facilities (MRFs).
Sanitary Landfill Design Handbook
These MRFs in clustered barangays will allow biodegradable waste to be collected in the community level so that residual waste will be the only thing dumped at the reinforced Irisan dump site.
However, Domogan explained the grant will only be given to the city government once the permanent site for the establishment of the landfill facility has been identified and cleared of obstructions.
Design, Construction, and Monitoring of Sanitary Landfills
In order to expedite the construction of the landfill project, the city mayor created a task force that will be composed of technical people from all sectors of the government and private sector who will work full time so that all the issues and concerns on the landfill site will be settled before its construction.
Domogan said there is a need for concerned city departments to work double time in constructing the needed MRFs and its engineered sanitary landfill to save millions of pesos in public funds which is just being wasted for the hailing of hundreds of tons of waste to a sanitary landfill in Tarlac.
In a World Bank-funded urban development for the city in 1998, one of the identified sites where to put up an engineered sanitary landfill is the three-hectare city-owned property located between the barangays of Camp 7 and Sto. Tomas Apugan.
It is now now the site being eyed for the city's landfill project.
Considering the influx of local and foreign assistance for the city to be able to comply with the provisions of Republic Act (RA) 9003 or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act, Domogan asserted the local government must have the political will to formulate the appropriate solutions on the worsening solid waste problem in order to restore the city's cleanliness and beauty.
The law requires all local governments nationwide to close the operation of their open dumpsites and facilitate the construction of their own open dumpsites or engineered sanitary landfill for a healthier and pro-environment disposal of solid waste.
Domogan rallied the support of all concerned stakeholders so that the city government will be able to comply with the lawful provisions without facing sanctions from the National Solid Waste management Commission (NSWC).