Osmeña cries foul over move to block his landfill proposal

Opposing the construction of a transfer station inside the Inayawan Sanitary Landfill is harassment.

Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña made the pronouncement after Councilor Raymond Garcia said that doing so will circumvent the closure order of the Court of Appeals (CA).

“It is not tantamount to reopening the landfill. Why is there a transfer station that we're using right now in Inayawan? They're just harassing us,” the mayor said.

During last Tuesday's regular session, the City Council referred to the committee on laws the proposed ordinance setting aside one hectare inside the facility where the City Government will set up a transfer station.

Garcia, who chairs the committee, lamented that the proposed legislation authored by Councilor Eugenio Gabuya Jr. has a “very slim chance of passing” as the City might be cited for contempt should the construction be pushed.

Gabuya, in a previous interview, pointed out the construction would not run counter to the CA's order.

He explained that should the ordinance be passed, a facility will be built where trash will no longer have to be deposited on the lot, but directly transferred from truck-to-truck.

The P25 million allocated for the rehabilitation of the landfill will be used to fund the project.

Gabuya said the facility is the ideal place because the proposed transfer station will be around the weighing scale.

Osmeña called the proposal a “practical and efficient” means of managing the garbage situation.

“It's a sound proposal because it's not dumping. We need a transfer station because it will help us save money. The key issue is that the legal transfer station we're using now is also in Inayawan. So, why can't we use our site as a transfer station?” he said.

The City is paying Jomara Konstruckt Corp. ( JKC) P1,375 per ton of garbage collected in all 80 barangays.

The amount includes the tipping fee, use of equipment, payment for the transfer station and the drivers and loaders.

Of the amount, P150 per ton is paid to the owner of the transfer station JKC has entered into a deal with.

With JKC collecting some 500 tons of trash daily, the City will save P25 million annually if the ordinance is passed, Osmeña said.

“They (the opposition) can block it like they always do. We can do a lot with P25 million, but they like us to get a separate transfer station that's in the same neighborhood. That's the kind of abuse we have in the council,” he said.