Baguio folk divided on garbage site as Benguet towns offer to host trash

By Dexter A. See

BAGUIO CITY — Hundreds of villagers from at least three barangays here are divided on whether or not to endorse the planned construction of a multi-million-pesos engineered sanitary landfill in Barangay Sto. Tomas Apugan due to land claims, health and environmental issues.
The local government prefers to construct its sanitary landfill within the city rather than implement the project outside the city.

But residents of Camp 7, Sto. Tomas Proper and Sto. Tomas Apugan, who are against the environmentally critical project, claimed they have existing claims over the three-hectare public land being proposed as the site for the landfill project, thus, they will not allow the city government to pursue such plan.

They claimed setting up of a sanitary landfill in Sto. Tomas Apugan will compromise the health condition of the people and the state of the environment because their sources of potable water will be polluted plus the fact that the garbage to be dumped in the facility will serve as a breeding ground of flies, mosquitoes and other harmful insects.

The city council is being pressured on how to resolve the issue since the 2009 city budget has not yet reviewed and approved by the Department of Budget and Management.

Earlier the local finance committee reported to the city council only P19 million was left for the project since the Department of Budget and management has not yet reviewed and approved the 2009 budget.

With this situation, the city government has no choice but to appropriate more than P2 million from the city fund to haul more than 100 truckloads of garbage piled daily all over the city.

Councilor Lourdes Tabanda said even though the city council was not amenable with the hauling of garbage to Capas Tarlac, she said they are left with no choice since no tangible plan was presented and finalized by the solid waste management board.

This, as Sablan town officials in Benguet said Baguio could establish the engineered sanitary landfill within their locale.

More than 20 hectares of land, located at Sitio Alimang, Poblacion was proposed for a Sanitary landfill. The owners of the land, represented by Mr. Rogelio Almacen presented the request of the owners to Mayor Bony Tacio.

Almacen said owners of the land agreed to sell their properties to the city government to be used as a sanitary landfill. Likewise, the residents of Barangay Palali recommend their area upon knowing the proposal.

Earlier, Mayor Reinaldo Bautista Jr. ordered to conduct an ocular inspection of the site.
But since the process of coming up with a sanitary landfill will take three years, Bautista said the city will still haul garbage to Capas.

In another development, the Police Regional Office in the Cordillera pinpointed an area within the 6-hectare property of the regional headquarters to be used a site for the establishment of a dump site to help the city government of Baguio and the municipal government in addressing the solid waste management problems they are encountering.

Chief Supt. Orlando Pestano, regional police director, said the identification of a portion of the military reservation to put up the required MRF is in compliance to orders of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to all government offices in the region to pinpoint an area within their property to be used as a waste disposal facility by local governments. -- With a report from Antonio Alvarez Sagud Jr.