Cebu City to dump trash in Naga soon

CEBU, Philippines - The privately operated Material Recovery Facility (MRF) in Naga City might be able to accommodate Cebu City’s trash in three months.

But Naga City Mayor Valdemar Chiong said although the Cebu City government has long expressed its interest in using the MRF, the Naga City government has not yet agreed on the matter.

“Anything the service provider wants to do with the facility, they should ask permission from the city first,” said Chiong.

Lawyer Jade Ponce, presiding officer of the Cebu City Solid Waste Management Board, said Naga City is committed to accommodate the city’s garbage after Mayor Michael Rama closed the Inayawan Landfill.

“Before, they said they need six months to set up a facility that can accommodate our volume of garbage, but karon ingon sila three months na lang. It would be better if we can divert our garbage in two areas soon,” Ponce said.

The private MRF in Naga City can only accommodate 50 tons of garbage daily when it started.

Last year, when Cebu City expressed its intention to use the facility for impending closure of the Inayawan Sanitary Landfill, it expanded to accommodate more tons of garbage especially for Cebu City, which generates over 300 tons of garbage daily.

Ponce said that when Naga City finally opens for Cebu City’s trash, garbage from barangays in the south district will likely be diverted to that MRF while the garbage from the north district barangays will continue dumping their garbage in the private landfill in Consolacion.

Currently, the city diverts its garbage to Consolacion alone.

But some barangays, mostly from the south, are complaining because Consolacion is quite far from aside from the fact that the roads are tough for some garbage trucks.

The city pays P700 per ton of garbage diverted to the Consolacion landfill.

Some barangay trucks could not proceed to Consolacion because they are not suited for rough roads.

The city takes the Talamban-Pit-os route to Consolacion because Mandaue City imposed a truck ban along its north road.

Since some barangays could not bring their garbage directly to Consolacion, the city established a transfer station which is also having a problem at this time.

The transfer station is still being improved so it was temporarily relocated in the service area of the closed Inayawan Sanitary landfill.

More accessible

The MRF in Naga City is believed to be more accessible and eyed as an option for garbage trucks that could not proceed to Consolacion.

However, it would still depend on the arrangement between the city government and the operator of the MRF (called Ecopark).

The city government closed the landfill last December 7 to comply with Republic Act 9003 or the Solid Waste Management Act.

The DENR also recommended that the landfill must be closed because it is already full, having exceeded its lifespan of seven years. 

A portion of it is now being used as a temporary relocation of the transfer station until such time the original transfer station is improved.

Memorandum of agreement

Chiong explained that the MRF in Barangay Pangdan is still under the memorandum of agreement signed by FDR-Con, a private company that runs it, and the city government.

If he would decide, Chiong said he would not allow Cebu City to use the facility yet as he is not sure if FDR-Con “can handle the big volume of waste” generated daily by Cebu City.

“I am not being selfish, careful lang ko kay og magkaproblema ang operation sa service provider amo man sad ng problema sa syudad,” he said.

Apart from Naga, the neighboring Minglanilla, which has an average of 30 tons of waste daily, has also been using FDR-Con’s MRF since early last year.

Chiong said he is not yet convinced if FDR can handle another 30 tons of waste daily, explaining that it needs additional equipment and people.

Although the city gets 10 percent for every ton of waste thrown to the MRF, Chiong said the issue is more than just the income but responsibility.

Under the MOA, Minglanilla pays P1,100 to Fdr-Con for every ton of waste collected, 10 percent of which goes to Naga City government. — /LPM (FREEMAN)