Council questions budget for city garbage collection

CEBU, Philippines - Cebu City’s Department of Public Services has asked for P238.24 million for garbage disposal and collection in 2016.

The amount is almost 400 percent higher than this year’s approved budget of P51 million, which was way lower than the P122 million the executive department requested.

Although the opposition-dominated City Council slashed the P122 million for this year to just P51 million, which was the amount the city spent for the service in 2014, it approved an additional P50 million as supplemental budget for garbage disposal and collection after the P51 million was depleted last March.

For the 2016 budget, the City Council questioned the P238.24 million during a budget hearing yesterday.

“Nganong mas mahal man nuon ang inyong solution? Let us see daw if how can we save? This is not about garbage collection, how about reduction? Dili mana atoang kuwarta,” said City Councilor Margarita Osmeña, who heads the council committee on budget and finance.

City Councilor Alvin Arcilla also said the city government could save P6.7 million a month, or P80.4 million a year, if garbage trucks of DPS and the barangays would directly go to the landfill in Consolacion town since the city is asked to pay P700 for tipping fee per ton instead of utilizing a transfer station.

But DPS Acting Assistant Department Head Rogelio Legaspi said the city needs a waste transfer station since there are barangays that cannot proceed right to Consolacion to dump their garbage there.

The City Council, however, still questioned the use of the waste transfer station, which allegedly did not have its concurrence.

City Councilor Alvin Dizon said the City Council would not block the city utilizing the waste transfer station if it sees practicability in it.

“Ang resolution issued by the Association of Barangay Councils which granted the (use of the) waste transfer station is not legal unless niagi sa City Council, ilabi na naghisgot kini og milyones. This is highly irregular and any concerned citizen has legal basis to question this,” Dizon said.

City Council further asked the DPS to look into other solutions, like garbage reduction or buying of branded garbage trucks to avoid using a transfer station or outsourcing the service.

Osmeña said the requested budget was too much and asked DPS to submit a breakdown of the proposed expenses.

“You should be realistic kay sobra ra sad kaayo,” she said.

She said even for this year’s budget and after the granting of an additional P50 million, the executive department is still asking for an additional of P87 million under the stalled Supplemental Budget-1 for garbage disposal and collection.

But Legaspi said garbage collection and disposal expenses rose after the Inayawan Sanitary Landfill was closed last January 15.

Legaspi said the proposed budget for next year is much higher because the city government will no longer use a waste transfer station that is currently being done.

The city currently pays the transfer station, which is allegedly owned by Inayawan Barangay Captain Lutherlee Ignacio-Soon, who is running for city councilor next year under Team Rama, P1,500 per ton of garbage.

Legaspi said that for 2016, the city will venture into partial outsourcing, where private haulers would collect garbage from the 36 south district barangays and others barangays that cannot transport garbage to the private landfill in Consolacion.

The P238.24 million covers P164.2 million for outsourcing, P68.9 million for garbage tipping fee, and P5 million for job orders.

For the outsourcing plan next year, the city would pay P1,800 per ton of garbage.  Legaspi said the average garbage collected in the city per day is 520 tons, 250 tons of which would be collected by the outsourced suppliers while the 270 tons would be brought directly to Consolacion by DPS’ and barangay garbage trucks.

Hearing of the proposed 2016 budget would resume today.  (FREEMAN)