Wednesday, April 28, 2010
By Lydia C. Pendon
THE construction of Iloilo City's 23-hectare sanitary landfill facility (SLF) in Calajunan dumpsite in Barangay Calajunan, Mandurriao district has finally started.
The city's Solid Waste Management Board approved on April 20 a resolution that orders the start of the SLF construction.
The resolution was passed after the technical working group (TWG) endorsed three hectares of the dumpsite as initial area for the sanitary landfill project that will cover some 10 hectares.
Waste board co-chair Marissa Segovia said P40 million will be included in the 2011 annual budget to fund the initial sanitary landfill area.
The city is eyeing 10 hectares as the total project area that will need some P200 million for the construction of a sanitary landfill. The landfill will include treatment ponds, plastic lining of the ponds and plastic cover, among others.
Segovia said Mayor Jerry P. Treñas has given his full support to the sanitary landfill project as a requirement to be fulfilled by the City Government.
The waste board also approved two other projects endorsed by the TWG, such as the closure of the old open dumpsite of around 10 hectares and the partial opening of the transition dump area.
The old dumpsite is now being covered with soil and developed into a biological park to be planted with flowers and trees. A new material recovery facility was already completed in the area, including the construction of a leachate pond, drainage system, office building and new roads going to the transition dumpsite.
Garbage trucks of JS Layson have already started hauling garbage at the transition dumpsite.
On the other hand, a memorandum of understanding (MOU) is being finalized between the City Government and Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) through its Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) for a properly coordinated implementation of Republic Act 9003.
Signatories of the MOU will include DENR Regional Director Julian Amador and EMB Regional Director Oscar Cabanayan, as well as Mayor Treñas and his representatives.
The MOU provides that the EMB technical expertise will be available to the city in the implementation of Ecological Solid Waste Management Act in Iloilo.
EMB has availed of the technical support project for solid waste management for local government units provided by the German Technical Cooperation (GTZ), which will be implemented jointly with the German consultancy company AHT Group AG (GTZ-AHT).
____________________________________________________________
