Mandaue dumpsite needs to be rehabilitated
The 9.2-hectare dumpsite in Barangay Umapad, Mandaue City needs to be closed for rehabilitation.
This according to environmental lawyer Benjamin Cabrido, the city's consultant on environmental protection, when he appeared before the City Council for the confirmation of his appointment.
Cabrido said the Solid Waste Management Board has prepared a four-year closure plan to rehabilitate the dumpsite in order to comply with the law that requires dumpsites to be replaced with sanitary landfills.
The Umapad dumpsite is on the left side of the Marcelo Fernan Bridge. One side of the dumpsite faces the Mactan Channel.
"We cannot implement the plan if we will not close the Umapad," Cabrido said.
While the dumpsite is being rehabilitated, Cabrido suggested that the city consider the mountain barangay of Casili as alternative location of a new landfill.
Vice Mayor Carlo Fortuna said the proposal would need to undergo a public hearing before the council approves it.
"There are major undertakings that need to be studied. We don't want ending up defending especially in Casili, just like the time of then mayor Ouano," Fortuna told Cabrido.
Cabrido said he will furnish the council a copy of the study, as well as the plan for the temporary landfill in Casili.
The Umapad dumpsite has existed since the time of then mayor Demetrio Cortes.
It was closed during the time of Mayor Jonas Cortes in 2010 as the city transitioned to using a Materials Recovery Facility and implemented waste segregation at the barangay level. It was, however, reopened for use during Cortes' last term in office.
Mayor Luigi Quisumbing said they considered transferring the dumpsite as early as July.
"Actually we've been considering since July. We have been running costs/ feasibility simulations," he said.
In 2010 during Cortes' time, the city was required to submit a safe closure plan of Umapad.
"We submitted it then and resubmitted it this year," he said.
Quisumbing said the city intends to create an environmentally compliant dumpsite.
The mayor also said he intends to put up complementary MRF facilities in the city to address the problem of garbage.
"The volume will only continue to increase as Mandaue develops and we must act now to find long term solutions," Quisumbing said.