CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – The city government is hounded by the issue of heaps of garbage on the main road going to the sanitary landfill in Barangay Pagalungan here.
But the city government said that these are recyclable materials from junk shops.
A GARBAGE truck arrives at the sanitary landfill in Sitio Buracan, Barangay Pagalungan, Cagayan de Oro City. (Franck Dick Rosete)
Engr. Armen Cuenca, department manager of the City Local Environment and Natural Resources Office (CLENRO), issued the statement in response to the special report before the city council on January 15 by Councilor Imee Rose Moreno who expressed concern regarding the matter.
“She sees those as garbage, but to the poor, they are money,” Cuenca said in an interview during a visit to the Pagalungan Sanitary Landfill with the media on Thursday, February 29.
During Moreno’s special report, apart from the undying issue of inconsistent garbage collection, she also presented a video to the city council taken on January 14 showing trash on the main road going to the sanitary landfill.
She said a video was sent to her about the problem, prompting her to direct her staff to personally see the situation in Barangay Pagalungan.
“We are scared about this, Madam Chair, because maybe someday, we haven’t noticed, especially those (residents) from District 2 who don’t go to the hinterland barangays, we will be shocked that the entire Barangay Pagalungan became a dumpsite,” Moreno said.
Bulk of garbage from junk shops could still be seen on the main road before the sanitary landfill during the site visit, but it was more organized compared to the video.
Cuenca narrated that garbage trucks from the city government partner collector, barangays, and private sector normally drop their pre-collected recyclable materials in junk shops.
SACKS of recyclable materials are placed inside a property on the main road going to the sanitary landfill in Barangay Pagalungan, Cagayan de Oro City. (Franck Dick Rosete)
Not following the rules
The CLENRO chief, however, disclosed that these more or less four junk shops located before reaching the sanitary landfill have not accordingly followed the rules and regulations stated in an ordinance where junk shops must not be situated beside the road, near a creek or cliff, and must be enclosed.
These shops have business permits and have been operating for more or less a year now, based on the monitoring of CLENRO. They have yet to transfer, but the city government has already issued notices of violations against them.
Notice of violations were also issued against junk shops in Sitio Zayas, Barangay Carmen, near the old dumpsite situated beside the road.
Cuenca has recommended that these shops be transferred and a joint inspection composed of city government offices be conducted on a date to be determined.
Landfill’s operation continues
Cuenca showed that the sanitary landfill has been continuing operations, debunking allegations that there was alleged mismanagement on the part of the city government.
During the visit, media witnessed a few trucks from the city government partner collector and barangays arriving at the site to dispose of garbage.
They also observed how the trucks dropped their garbage and covered with soil using a backhoe.
A NON-functional wastewater treatment facility lies inside the sanitary landfill in Sitio Buracan, Barangay Pagalungan, Cagayan de Oro City. (Photo courtesy of Rhowel Felicitas, City Information Office)
The sanitary landfill has facilities for wastewater treatment and hazardous waste for hospitals but these are non-functional. The city government is awaiting an electric company to install electricity to these facilities.
The CLENRO department manager said about four hectares of land have been used in the 47-hectare sanitary landfill and projected it to be fully occupied by 2035.
Proper forum
Moreno made a special report on February 19, following up on the meeting she requested with the committee on environment after her first special report in January.
She wanted to get further responses from CLENRO on the issue as there were concerned individuals who had been asking for clarifications.
Councilor Roger Abaday, chairman of the committee on environment, replied and said there is no need for a committee meeting as he has referred Moreno’s report to CLENRO and the Roads and Traffic Administration.
But Moreno insisted on the need for a committee meeting with line government offices and agencies, emphasizing their oversight function as legislators in the city. “I will be ashamed if the people and complainants inquire and I don’t have answers to give,” she added.
Abaday said on Friday, March 1, that he will schedule a committee meeting next week.