PWS assures council: Stench from landfill is being addressed

CEBU, Philippines — The Prime Integrated Waste Solutions Inc. (PWS), operator of the controversial Binaliw Sanitary Landfill, has denied discharging untreated wastewater directly into the creek and assured that stench emitted from the facility is already being addressed.

Kevin Matthew Siao, representative of PWS Cebu, appeared before the members of the Cebu City Council during an executive session yesterday where he said that measures have been instituted to mitigate the foul smell.

Officials from several homeowners associations in Barangay Binaliw, who were present during the executive session, told Siao and the members of the council how the residents have suffered from the stench.

Siao explained that when they took over the operations of the landfill from ARN Central Waste Management Inc. it has already accumulated at least three years’ worth of garbage.

He assured that the landfill management is taking care of the complaints. To mitigate the stench, Siao said they are constantly applying organic spray and ensure that wash bay areas for trucks are working.

He said that they will be upgrading their wastewater facility and will be installing biofencing with a black bamboo to help mitigate the foul smell.

“One thing lang kasi to note that a lot of the smell really does come out during the rainy season because of rainwater mixing with the waste the comes in,” said Siao.

“What we have to understand that in waste management business we always have to associate waste with smell, there’s no way we can deny that,” he added.

Barangay Panoypoy, Consolacion Captain Ares Balaba Jr. claimed that the operation of PWS has affected their creek particularly due to “treatment” being done.

“Dira jud tampi sa sapa…pero kana, perting grabeha, asa man diay na agas inig buhi nila, ari man sa amoang creek,” he said.

Councilor Joel Garganera, chairman of the Committee on Environment, played a video clip from the members of the disaster team showing a stream of water believed to be waste from the facility. He described the water to be blackish in color and with a foul smell.

Garganera said they have already submitted water samples for laboratory examination.

Siao, however, denied that the water was a discharge from their facility.

“It does not belong to PRIME, it is also not within PRIME property. If you take a look at of said pond, you will see that that pond is from a quarry and that water that has been used to wash, aggregates the quarry has excavate and produces,” he said.

Siao said that their wastewater goes through their catching pond then straight to their waste treatment plant.

“We have not been discharging,” he said. — (FREEMAN)