DAVAO CITY, Philippines – The City Council on Tuesday, November 14, called out to the City Environment and Natural Resources Office (CENRO) to attend the next regular session next week to discuss the status of sanitary landfill in Tugbok district.
This, following the reports on the observed spread of leachate or liquid waste coming from the said facility.
“I’m requesting that we invite CENRO and the DENR (Department of Environment and Natural Resources) on the next session in order to inform the City Council and the public regarding their plan for the existing problem,” Councilor Bernard Al-ag said during the regular session on Tuesday.
Prior to the session, Al-ag told reporters that the problem poses a great threat to not just the residents in nearby barangays but to the whole Davao City since the leachate has reached the waters of Matina Pangi river.
This was confirmed earlier by the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) 11, saying that the spread of leachate is due to the lack of proper drainage and the overflowing waste water treatment facility.
Alnuflo Alvarez, chief of EMB 11’s solid waste managent section, said that the existing drainage lines have clogged up because of the “huge volume of waste” which the existing treatment facility could no longer handle.
CENRO has committed to improve the current waste treatment facility and its operation to immediately address the leaching.
On Tuesday, the council also approved with finality the P714,668,560.34 supplemental budget for 2018 which includes the P100 million fund for the consturction of a new and comprehensive solid waste management complex in the city.
The new sanitary landfill is considered the long term solution for the problem, Al-ag added.
The solid waste management complex will be composed of a sanitary landfill, recycling area, segregation area, and a modern waste water treatment facility. (davaotoday.com)
