URDANETA CITY–Though several years behind the deadline, this city might prove to be the first local government in the province to comply with the mandated creation of a full-scale sanitary landfill.
Bolinao already has a small-scale sanitary landfill.
"The city government here is set to put up a sanitary landfill for its garbage," Mayor Amadeo Perez Jr. told The PUNCH.
Perez said the city council passed a resolution last Monday approving the establishment of a sanitary landfill and a corresponding resolution for the acquisition of a P220 million loan with the land Bank of the Philippines for the project.
Perez said part of the loan will be used to purchase a 10-hectare lot and to put up an access road leading to the sanitary landfill site.
The landowners have reportedly signified their willingness to sell the lot located in Sitio Caligo, Barangay Catablan to the city government.
The site, which will not be far from the existing controlled dumpsite, is located in "a sparsely populated area".
The people in the barangay have reportedly posed no opposition to the plan, recognizing how the old dumpsite has been properly managed and provided an extra means of income for some residents.
Perez said once completed, it would be income-generating for the city as it will allow neighboring towns and cities to use it for a fee, which can then be used to help pay for the loan amortization.
The controlled dumpsite will eventually be closed by covering it with soil then converting it into a farm for fruit trees and vegetables, but the city's material recovery facility there at the dumpsite will be maintained.
Perez also said the city has purchased a machine recommended by the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) that can convert plastic, papers and carton into tiles and hollow blocks.
The Department of Agriculture has also programmed to set up machines to produce organic fertilizer, he added.
The Ecological Solid Waste Management Act under Republic Act 9003 mandates all local government units to put up a sanitary landfill with the deadline originally set on February 2006.#
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