The coming garbage crisis - My Viewpoint

I guess I could write about a lot of things today, this being Valentine's Day. Maybe an essay on the meaning of love. Or, I could continue to harass the Philippine Stock Exchange which, as I write, is still dilly-dallying about its report on Dante Tan and the stock transactions of BW Resources. Speculation is still rife about whether the grand pooh-bahs of the exchange are busily laundering the allegedly explosive contents of the PSE's own investigation report. Or, I could write about my own immediate future, which has also recently become the subject of some speculation.

I've decided to write on none of these subjects. Firstly, the specially sections of practically all newspapers are practically overflowing with sappy, syrupy treatises on love and its myriad aspects. The sweetness of it all, frankly, is overwhelming. On the other hand, the woodenheadedness of some members and governors of the PSE is once again proof positive of the dictum that some people never learn. If the more sober and upright members of the Exchange don't take hold of this matter soonest, the self-styled smooth operators among the broker-dealers will take the rest of their brethren down the toilet with them. As for my own immediate future, I will address that at an appropriate time. Or, it will take care of itself.

Therefore, I shall write about garbage, which is at least as important as the other subjects. In fact, garbage -- specifically, how we dispose of it -- should now concern all Metro Manilans as seriously as those other issues which media have put on the front burner, such as Jun Manero and who should be burned at the stake for making the conditional pardon of Fr. Tullio Favali's killer possible.

The problem, you see, is that we are running out of places where Metro Manila can dump its garbage. The San Mateo dumpsite will be closed permanently at the end of this year. With Carmona and Payatas no longer available, this will mean that the mega-Manila area will have no more repository for its thousands of tons of refuse. We tend to gloss over this potential crisis because in the past, we have been able to postpone final resolution of the problem to another day. The usual stop-gap measure is for the town or city where the dumpsite is located to allow more dumping for a longer period of time. But we may have reached the end of the road. San Mateo has had enough and is not willing to grant any more extensions.

Secretary Roberto Aventajado, chairman of the Greater Metropolitan Manila Solid Waste Management Committee, warns that a new sanitary landfill site must be completed and be ready to accept garbage by December 2000. Initially, the landfill will take delivery of 2,000 tons but must eventually have a capacity of 50 million cubic meters to accommodate 6,000 tons of garbage from Metro Manila and from host and adjacent provinces. At the moment, no site has been decided upon but the possible locations are in the provinces of Zambales, Bataan, Laguna and Cavite. The reclamation of parts of Carballo Island of Cavite (near Corregidor) is also being considered. Bidding for the project, which will be undertaken on a build-operate-transfer basis, took place this month. There were five bidders.

The question is whether the first sanitary landfill project will be completed in time to allow an alternative to San Mateo. The fear is that once construction plans are finalized and announced, local officials and residents of the site chosen will launch protests or go to the courts to restrain or prevent the completion of the project, or otherwise delay it.

Residents of the subdivision where I live recently got a glimpse of this potential crisis. For several weeks, garbage collection was seriously delayed. Garbage piled up and, even when segregated and packed in plastic containers, the sights and smells were a real turn-off. Stray cats were having a field day destroying the plastic bags and scavenging through the rotting garbage.

When residents complained, the garbage contractor explained that the problem wasn't a lack of trucks, it was the lack of a place to dump the garbage. And it wasn't only our area that was affected, the contractor said. The threat is real and imminent: If the planned sanitary landfill isn't around by the time San Mateo closes down for good, we could have the definitive garbage crisis from hell.