City starting no touch ground policy in waste disposal site

BAGUIO CITY -- Mayor Mauricio G. Domogan said the multi-million upgrading of the local government’s temporary waste transfer station is nearing completion and the no touch ground of residual waste being hauled out of the city is now being sparingly practiced prior to its full implementation anytime.

The local chief executive claimed that most of the work funded under the P11.5 million to improve the temporary waste transfer station had been completed but what is now being proposed is the increase in the height of the fence to prevent the waste from spilling over to some portions of the 5,000-square meter earmarked for the purpose.

“We are now currently practicing the no touch ground policy in our temporary waste transfer station after the completion of the chute that was programmed purposely to avoid the residual waste from being brought to the ground before being loaded to the trucks of the hauler,” Domogan said.

He revealed that now that the chute is fully operational, complaints on the obnoxious odor emanating from the temporary waste transfer station had drastically decreased considering that there is only a limited volume that is left on the ground but it is immediately removed by those personnel of the City General Services Office assigned to oversee the operation of the facility.

 According to him, the local government is grateful to residents living around the waste transfer station for their understanding and patience in awaiting for the city’s compliance to the implementation of mitigating measures that will effectively and efficiently address the foul odor emanating from the facility due to the water that is being left on the ground.

Earlier, the local government commissioned the services of a representative from the Tuba municipal government who will take part in the monitoring of the operation of the temporary waste transfer station so that it will be pursuant to the rules and regulations provided by the Cordillera office of the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB-CAR) on the operation of said facilities.

With the existence of the chute, the city’s garbage trucks dump the collected residual waste to the mouth of the concrete structure and the same will directly flow to the hauler’s trucks waiting below the chute, thus, no garbage will be allowed to touch ground.

Earlier, Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol approved the urgent request of Mayor Domogan to use a 5,000-square meter portion of the Baguio Dairy Farm as the city’s temporary waste transfer station after a La Trinidad-based court ordered the closure of the private hauler’s established waste transfer station in Longlong over a year ago.

However, the DA chief increased the land area that was ceded by the department to the local government to over 8.15 hectares, including the area occupied by the temporary waste transfer station, to be used for whatever expansion projects desired by the local government to help in decongesting the central business district among other suitable purposes.

The ceding of the portion of the Baguio Dairy Farm to the local government is covered under a deed of usufruct signed between both parties and having a duration of 25 years subject to renewal upon the mutual understanding of the involved parties. By Dexter A. See