City: No deal with landfill in Consolacion

CEBU, Philippines – The Cebu City government is only dealing with Jomara Konstruckt Corp., the firm hauling its garbage from the South Road Properties, and has nothing to do with Jomara's arrangement with the private landfill in Consolacion town.

This was clarified by John Paul Gelasque, assistant head of the city's Department of Public Services, following insinuations the city also has a say in the arrangement with the landfill.

"The Cebu City Government has nothing to do with the Consolacion landfill. To make the record straight, walay kontrata ang city government sa Consolacion landfill," Gelasque told reporters yesterday.

"I would like to make this clear… ang DPS as a department is tasked to make the purchase request so naa mi terms and conditions ngadto nga amoang gipa-approve sa mayor. Naka-stipulate didto sa TOR, the city will hire a service provider nga mo-file sa garbage from the transfer station going to the private landfill. Ang nahitabo karon nga didto naglabay sa Consolacion ang private hauler," he explained.

He said the city's responsibility is to pay Jomara for its hauling services. The decision on where to dump the garbage lies exclusively with Jomara.

Councilor Joel Garganera, head of the City Council committee on environment, assailed the P1,375 per ton of garbage the city is paying Jomara.

"It is puzzling that the mayor would not let the city to do it at a lower price but is OK with letting a private contractor do it at a higher cost to the city. The cost is far higher than the previous admin because more than half of the barangays goes directly to the landfill and just pay P700 tipping fee, unlike now wherein all barangays will go to the private hauler," he told The FREEMAN.

Jamara has refused to answer questions from the media.

Gelasque said that as of yesterday, Jomara had already hauled up to 70 percent of the garbage to Consolacion. It is expected to finish moving all the garbage out of the SRP today.

The city government set aside P9.2 million for Jomara's services after the Environmental Management Bureau ordered the city to stop dumping garbage at the SRP in the absence of an Environmental Compliance Certificate. —/JMO (FREEMAN)