Benguet town folks nix project:Santo Tomas, Sablan eyed as Baguio City waste sites

By Paul Rillorta

BAGUIO CITY – The city government is concentrating on two locations, the Santo Tomas city property and a private property in Sablan as site for its Integrated Solid Waste Management System (ISWMS) even as the latter is being protested by some residents in the town near La Union.

Mayor Mauricio Domogan recently announced progress of the ISWMS which the city government is implement soon.

             The mayor said public consultation has been done to know sentiments of residents who will be affected by the project.   

Domogan however assured the public that before the project would start, the city will have to comply with all environmental laws and procedures that the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) would require.

“We will have to undergo the process of securing an Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC) and all environmental requirements and conditions that the DENR will recommend,” he said.

Domogan said the planned ISWMS is not like the open dumping system practiced in Irisan Dumpsite years back.

“We will be incorporating a waste processing system that will include latest technology to process waste which is environmentally sound and safe,” he said.

As early as 2009, the City Council has confirmed the Santo Tomas city property as the site for the city’s Engineered Sanitary Landfill (ESL) Facility.

This however did not stop the city from exploring other alternative locations to set-up its ESL within the city and even outside as required by Republic Act 9003.

In 2011, due to the difficulty in putting-up the ESL, the Environmental Recycling System (ERS) was acquired to manage bio-degradable wastes being  transported out of the city and converting the same to fertilizer for beneficial use.

The closure of the Irisan Facility in July 15, 2008 and the eventual hauling-out of waste impacted huge costs against the city government.

The city’s Punong Barangays extended support in mitigating costs to the city by practically heeding calls of reduction of wastes at source and the mandatory segregation of wastes.

Domogan said, “the barangays still need to boosts cooperation in the segregation process and to adhere to the garbage pick-up schedule being implemented by the city.’”

Presently, the General Services Office (GSO) is implementing a two-truck collection system for biodegradable and non-biodegradable wastes in residential barangays scheduled once or twice a week.

Once a day for commercial and institutional areas and twice a day for market and nearby growth areas.

The city generates 366 tons of solid waste per day, 122 tons are being hauled out, 30 tons are processed by the ERS and 214 tons are classified as recyclables and taken by waste pickers.

With the set-up of the new waste system, practically all waste will be processed either by the Central Materials Recovery Facility (MRF), the Waste-to-Energy facility, the Anaerobic Digester and the ERS. 

A separate Health Care Waste Treatment Plant will also be set-up to process wastes coming from the city’s hospitals and health centers.

Domogan said, “the Santo Tomas area which is owned by the city government is already identified as city needs area and should now be secured to avoid the influx of illegal settlers.”