CARMEN MAYOR’S ‘CHANGE OF HEART’

After approving and endorsing town’s proposed sanitary landfill, the chief executive wants Provincial Government to conduct another public consultation

THE Provincial Government has been asked to hold another public consultation on the proposal to put up a sanitary landfill in Barangay Dawis Sur in the northern town of Carmen.

Gov. Hilario Davide III said Mayor Martin Gerard Villamor wrote him on this matter, but he has yet to read the full letter.

The first public hearing was held in Dawis Sur two years ago. The barangay and municipal councils passed separate resolutions, endorsing the project.

Last April 1, a public consultation was held at the Capitol in Cebu City, where some Carmen residents urged the Province not to proceed with the project and to conduct another public hearing.

The residents expressed fear that the project would contaminate the town’s water source and their health and jeopardize their livelihood.

Davide said he would refer the mayor’s letter to the committee on commerce and industry, which is led by Provincial Board (PB) Member Miguel Antonio Magpale.

If the committee decides there is a need for another round of public consultation, it will have to take place after the May 13 midterm elections, Davide said.

For Vice Gov. Agnes Magpale, conducting another public hearing is no problem if it will help residents understand what a sanitary landfill is.

However, the vice governor pointed out that Villamor, along with several Carmen councilors, accompanied her, Davide and other mayors in the fifth district to Tacloban City several years ago to observe the Basic Environmental Systems Technology (Best), the country’s largest integrated waste solutions provider, prepare a lot and transform it into a landfill.

“Nikuyog siya (Villamor), unya niingon siya approve siya and sila mismo ni-endorse na (Villamor went with us, and he said he approved it and they even endorsed it),” she said.

Meanwhile, Davide accused Third District Rep. Gwen Garcia, who is running for governor against Vice Governor Magpale, of making the landfill project a political issue.

“She’s suddenly an expert on waste management, waste-to-energy,” he told Superbalita Cebu.

If the PB allows Davide to enter into an agreement with Best, the firm will manage the facility under a Public-Private Partnership. Best will charge a tipping fee of P700 per ton, 25 percent of which will go to the Province.