Carmen residents oppose 10-ha. sanitary landfill

SEVERAL Carmen residents asked the Cebu Provincial Government to halt the implementation of the sanitary landfill in Barangay Dawis Sur.

Driver Bayani Espina said the Capitol should explain the project to the townsfolk and there should be more public consultations in the villages in Carmen.

Espina, a resident of Barangay Poblacion, attended the public hearing on the landfill project held at the vice governor’s conference room in the Capitol Compound in Cebu City on Monday, April 1.

Most of the attendees opposed the project, expressing their fear that it would contaminate the town’s water source.

According to Mac Batucan, Carmen is the water source of Cebu Province, but the Dawis Sur and Dawis Norte residents suffer from having no water system.

The residents fetched water from a spring and the construction of the landfill might destroy it.

Meanwhile, lawyer Rafael Talens Jr. reminded everyone of the fatal flash flood that killed more than 10 residents in Carmen in April 2017. He said the Capitol should find another location.

The proposed 10-hectare landfill will be built within the 18-hectare property of Cebu Province in Dawis Sur.

Gov. Hilario Davide III said the project will be implemented through a public-private partnership. If approved by the Provincial Board, Capitol will enter in a joint-venture agreement with the Basic Environmental Systems Technology (PRO), the private proponent for the operation of the landfill.

Provincial Legal Officer Orvi Ortega said the councils of Dawis Sur and Carmen endorsed the project by passing separate resolutions in 2017.

Former Dawis Sur councilor Adelina Supapo said she could not remember that such resolution had been passed, but she was one of the signatories of the resolution dated Feb. 19, 2017. Ranulfo Ybañez was the village chief at the time.

For the PRO, the construction of the landfill cannot affect the water source in Dawis Sur.

PRO project developer manager Raul Jardin said the water in the deep well and spring in Dawis Sur flows outward.