Decade-old illegal dump leveled in Valenzuela

Valenzuela City Mayor Sherwin Gatchalian yesterday ordered the immediate closure and clearing of another illegal dump discovered by joint elements of City Hall’s Waste Management Office (WMO) and Task Force Disiplina (TFD).

The two-hectare lot in Makipot Bukid, Barangay Malinta, which long-time residents said used to be the neighborhood playground, slowly metamorphosed into a dump in recent years and has been so for some 10 years, officials said.

Residents have complained of the stench and the health hazards posed by the dump to the community.

"Mahirap mapagsabihan ang mga tao kahit ano ang gawin natin. Marami na ang nagkasakit, lalo na ang mga bata. Nagpapasalamat kami kay mayor at pinalinis niya na ito," one resident said.

The area was the fourth illegal dump in the city ordered leveled by Gatchalian this year even as more clandestine sites are cropping up.

The first was a 1,000-square meter private property on Gumamela street while the next one on Urritia street, also in Barangay Gen. T. de Leon, contained garbage that accumulated for over 10 years and has risen 10 feet from the ground.

The illegal dump was found by chance while TFD was conducting a waste segregation information campaign in the area. Both have since been closed, leveled and sanitized.

A smaller site in Dalandanan was personally spotted by Gatchalian in one of his barangay visits last week. He quickly ordered it cleared.