2 Tarlac mayors now support use of landfill for Metro wastes

CLARK FIELD, Pampanga — The government’s wish for the sanitary landfill in Capas, Tarlac to accommodate Metro Manila’s mounting garbage may soon be realized.

This, after officials of Capas, where the landfill is located, and neighboring Bamban town have softened their stand against the proposal.

The Capas municipal board is reportedly expected to pass a resolution expressing support for the government’s call, earlier expressed by Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Elisea Gozun.

Capas Mayor Reynaldo Catacutan aired his support after inspecting the 100-hectare site in Barangay Kalangitan and observing the German technology being used there.

Bamban Mayor Leonardo Anunsacion is now similarly open to the idea after he was informed that wastes from Metro Manila will be transported to the landfill in sealed container vans.

The vans will have to pass through Bamban, and officials of Barangay Anopol — the short-cut to the landfill — are themselves supportive of the proposal, Anunsacion said.

"I am impressed by the high technology being used at the landfill," he said.

He added that his town could earn revenue from road user’s tax should the proposal be approved.

One hundred hectares were appropriated for the sanitary landfill, but so far only five hectares are being used. The landfill’s first phase, costing P250 million to develop, is now operational, taking in garbage from the Clark special economic zone and from Capas and Bamban towns.

Of the total area, some 60 to 70 hectares will be used for the garbage receptacle, which is layered with impervious plastic reputed to be incapable of wear and tear. There will also be a reforestation buffer zone, methane gas collection plant, leachate treatment facility and a power plant run by methane produced by the wastes.

Behind the state-of-the-art project is the German consortium Ingenieurburo Birkhahn and Heers & Brockstedt (IB-HB), which has designed and developed 35 similar landfills in various European countries.

The landfill is now being operated by the Metro Clark Solid Waste Management Corp. (MCSWMC), headed by Lena Villarama, sister of Bulacan Rep. Willie Villarama.

An MCSWMC source, however, said the plan is to take in only about one-fourth of the 6,000 tons of waste which Metro Manila churns out daily.