‘Dagupan dump cleared’

DAGUPAN CITY , Philippines — More than half of the four-hectare dump along the shore on Tondaligan Beach in Barangay Bonuan Boquig has been cleared.

Mayor Brian Lim said he ordered its rehabilitation in January in compliance with the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act.

Lim said part of the rehabilitation plan was the establishment of a “residual containment area” where biodegradables are shredded and composted.

“This is to minimize the volume of garbage that we haul out of Dagupan City. By doing that, we also reduce hauling expenses because there will be lesser volume of garbage,” he said.

Between July 2013 and June 2019, Tondaligan Beach turned into an “ecological disaster zone” after the city administration defied the order of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources to close the dump.

Bernard Cabison, city waste management division chief, said the piles of garbage had been flattened and hauled to a sanitary landfill outside the city.

Cabison said the dump is expected to be fully cleared by the end of this year to pave the way for the development of an eco-tourism park.