Cebu City Hall faces garbage woes anew

CEBU, Philippines – For the second time this year, Cebu City faces problem on garbage disposal as the additional P50 million budget for the tipping fees has been depleted since August.

Cebu City Solid Waste Management Board chairman Janesis Ponce disclosed yesterday that the budget for the tipping fees hinges on the approval of the Supplemental Budget Number 1, which is still pending before the City Council.

“One problem here is the financial support sa atong waste transfer station operation sa tipping fee. Everything is hinge on the passage of the SB-1 and I do not know, nagproblema pa ta karon,” he said.

The city’s executive department has proposed P3.32 billion supplemental budget this year, including P81 million for the tipping fees that will cover the cost starting September to December this year.

The first time when the city government had a problem on the tipping fee was during the early quarter of the year when it has used up the P51 million budget allocated by the City Council.

The executive department has originally proposed P120 million for garbage services in the annual budget. The amount, however, was slashed by the City Council to P51 million.

Engineer Rolando Ardosa, Department of Public Services head, said the additional P50 million approved by the City Council was exhausted last August 10.

“Wala nay funds. Kutob lang sa August. Utang lang karon sa haulers, wala ta kahibaw until when sila mosugot. Right now, sige na og pressure nga paningil,” he said.

Ponce said the city government had a problem on the financial concerns since last week.

“That’s what we fear kon dili ma-pass ang supplemental budget. This is not a new project, this is a recurring project. Expected regular expenses na,” he said.

The closure of the Inayawan landfill on January 15 has affected the garbage disposal, especially in the south district barangays. An average of 300 tons of garbage is being transported to Consolacion every day.

As of now, the city pays P1,500 per ton because it commissioned private hau-lers to dispose of the city’s garbage to Consolacion following the closure of Inayawan Sanitary Landfill.

Of the P1,500, at least P800 goes to the private hauler as payment for manpower, gasoline consumption, and other expenses. The remaining P700 serves as the tipping fee.

With the financial woes, Ponce said the city is facing problems concerning the transportation of the garbage from the city to Consolacion.

“Normally, it needs 20 trucks a day to Consolacion just to transport sorted out wastes diha. Right now, maglisod na atong contractors especially wala nay gabayad. There are only 10 trucks, but the city is augmenting it using the trucks of DPS and the DEPW (Department of Engineering and Public Works),” he said.

Further, the haulers have problems on the new policy of the truck ban imposed by Barangay Garing, Consolacion at 10 p.m. With this, Ponce said the garbage haulers are using the route of Barangay Pit-os road leading to Consolacion.

“For every delay, more time spent by our garbage collectors on the road. More time spend on the road means less time collecting and turnaround time sad sa barangays. We are looking for ways to augment that,” he said, adding that the city has been connecting with the barangays to settle the problem in its level. —/FPL (FREEMAN)