Talisay dad hits choice of council for dumpsite

Talisay City opposition Councilor Alan Bucao is questioning the wisdom of the city council in picking a site in the mountain barangay of Tapul for the city's sanitary landfill.

Bucao wants Joseph Bernard Odilao, chairman of the council committee on environmental protection and natural resources, to tell the council how much it would cost the city to operate the landfill and the cost of transporting garbage to the area.

"What are the implications of establishing a landfill in Tapul? Laayo kaayo ug saka-onon pa gyud. Nganong dili man ta mangita og site nga naa sa patag. Nganong adto pa man gyud ta sa bukid? (It is very far and steep. Why not look for a site in the plain? Why do we have to go to the mountains?)" Bucao said, adding that the road leading to Tapul is narrow.

The city must have a sanitary landfill by 2007 as mandated by the Solid Waster Management Act.

Presently, the DENR does not approve of the city's dumpsite in barangay Biasong while two of the agency's personnel describe the nine-hectare area in Tapul as ideal.

Last Thursday the council discussed realigning 20 percent of the development fund or P1.2 million for certain projects of the solid waste program.

Mayor Socrates Fernandez assured barangay residents that the dumpsite would be properly maintained. He said the wastewater from the landfill would not affect the Pinggan River because of the distance and the type of soil in the area.

City planning and development council officer Christine Delfin-Homez, in a separate interview, said that Tapul was picked because there is no other place in the city that would meet all the requirements for a landfill.

"Asa man diay nato ibutang ang basura, anha sa dagat? Adto gyud nato ibutang sa dako nga lugar (Where will be put the garbage, in the sea? We put it in a big area)," Homez said. - Garry B. Lao