Group starts gathering data for landfill’s rehab
The Full Advantage Philippines International Incorporated (FAPII) has already started gathering data on the controversial landfill in Barangay Inayawan, Cebu City in order to come up with a comprehensive closure and rehabilitation plan.
Cebu City Environment and Natural Resources Office Chief Nida Cabrera told The FREEMAN that while the said negotiated service provider, FAPII, is still waiting for the notice to proceed to be issued by the Bids and Awards Committee for Infrastructure, the company already started gathering data since Thursday.
“While waiting sa notice to proceed, nagstart na sila og collect og data. Gathering data means ang background history sa landfill including waste data, pag-start hangtod na stop, unsa nga klase sa mga basura ang naa diha, geological data ug uban pa,” she said.
The data collected will serve as a basis of FAPII in coming up with a comprehensive closure and rehabilitation plan of the facility to be endorsed to the city government for execution.
After the said procedure, FAPII is expected to analyze the waste depth; volume and extent of area covered; onsite waste characteristics; leachate generation and quality; groundwater and surface water quality; social aspect (wastepickers or informal sectors); gas emissions and air quality.
The assessment is expected to take at least three months and a half.
As stipulated in the terms of reference, FAPII will assist the city in the selection of appropriate technology such as waste to energy facility that will address the problem of solid waste management.
Other than that, it would assist the city in the preparation of the Initial Environment Examination documents for the issuance of an Environmental Compliance Certificate for the material recovery facility that will soon be established at the landfill for waste reduction.
Councilor Joel Garganera, who used to head the council's committee on environment, earlier questioned the executive department for coming up with an initial rehabilitation plan for the landfill when FAPII has not yet started the assessment of the landfill's condition.
The City has set aside P52.4 million for the facility's rehabilitation that has been shut down for nine months already.
“It's a negotiated contract. So, you have to abide (by) what the mayor wants them to do. For sure, it will justify the P 52-million budget,” Garganera said.
The rehabilitation, remediation and closure plan for the landfill include the construction of two perimeter fences for P35.2 million; construction or rehabilitation of the South Road Properties (SRP) to the Inayawan landfill causeway for P3.4 million; work and financial plan for greening and vegetation of the landfill for P780, 000; recovery of facility's service area for P10 million and procurement of a weighbridge scale which costs P3 million.
The city government set aside P 2.5 million in hiring experts to assess the landfill's situation that would help in coming up with a comprehensive rehabilitation plan.