In Carmen: Garcia to stop landfill project

CEBU, Philippines —  Residents opposing the establishment of a sanitary landfill in Carmen town seem to have won the fight now that Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia has returned to the Capitol.

Garcia said she will stop the landfill project in Barangay Dawis Sur, Carmen saying improper management of a landfill will have serious health and environmental repercussions.

“I stated that during my campaign and I will fulfill it karon nga na-gobernador ko balik. Dili gyud na nato ipadayon diha. Dili gyud na mahinayon and landfill diha sa Carmen (I stated that during my campaign and I will fulfill it now that I’m governor again. The project will stop. It will not push through in Carmen),” Garcia said.

The “provincial sanitary landfill” project kicked off in 2016 during the term of former governor Hilario Davide with the province allocating at least P5 million for it.

The budget for the project, incorporated in the Annual Investment Plan for 2016, was supposed to be used to prepare the 17-hectare lot the province purchased during Garcia’s previous term of office.

The landfill was envisioned to cater to cities and municipalities in the Fourth and Fifth Districts of Cebu Province but residents and officials of Dawis Sur have opposed the project for health and environmental reasons.

They said it is possible that groundwater sources will be contaminated – that is, wastewater or “leachate” from the landfill might penetrate the aquifer.

Ulysses Rex Bontia, a mechanical engineer from Carmen, has said worst-case scenarios can happen during earthquakes or floods because water sources can be affected. He also pointed out that residents in Dawis Sur depend mainly on springs or their own groundwater source because they don’t get to benefit from Carmen’s bulk of water supply where the Metropolitan Cebu Water District (MCWD) gets some of its supply.

The Dawis Sur residents also said they were not consulted sufficiently before the project was elevated to the provincial level.

Garcia said the residents sought her help to stop the project during one of her visits to the town.

Defense

Earlier this year, Basic Environment Systems Technologies, Inc. (BEST) said initial hydrological study on the project showed that the landfill will not affect the town’s water system.

BEST is a contracting and consulting business for waste management, public cleansing, sanitation and general hygiene

BEST Senior Vice President Emelita Aguinaldo has said one of the prerequisites in the application for an Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC) is the conduct of a hydrological study.

Engr. Arturo Gungun, BEST project management officer, also said that based on their observations, the movement of the aquifer in Dawis Sur’s wells and springs and of the landfill site goes in different or separate directions.

Engr. Jose Palac, BEST design consultant, said the firm designed the landfill based on United States standards, and used procedures that are recognized globally.

“The possibility (of contamination that) you are worried about is very remote,” he said. —  JMO (FREEMAN)