CPA to spend P1.3M to get rid of smell
Stench comes from rotting meat inside 2 containers that were moved to its premises last May
Five of 10 workers of the Philippine Ports Authority office are on sick leave after they complained of dizziness, headache, vomiting which they blamed on foul odor
THE Cebu Port Authority (CPA) vowed to immediately get rid of the two container vans containing rotten meat in its premises.
Atty. Yusoph Uckung, CPA deputy general manager, told Sun.Star Cebu that they’ve already secured P1.3 million for this purpose and have already submitted a waste management plan to the Bureau of Customs (BOC) Port of Cebu.
Uckung made the announcement after employees of the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) become ill due to the bad smell emanating from the two container vans that were moved behind the PPA office last May 14.
Uckung said the Commission on Audit has allowed them to use the money to dispose of the two container vans’ cargo.
Acting BOC District Collector Rico Rey Francis Holganza, for his part, said they will endorse the waste management plan to their central office in Manila as soon as they receive it.
Holganza said he plans to tell his superiors in Manila to treat the matter as an urgent case to fasttrack the disposal of the rotten cargo.
Health hazard
But some employees of PPA Cebu believed that the CPA and BOC haven’t done enough to solve the problem.
One employee, who refused to identify herself, told Sun.Star Cebu that some of her colleagues have gotten sick since the two container vans were placed behind their office last May 14.
She also said that some of their training sessions had to be postponed due to the stench.
As of yesterday, five of the 10 regular employees of PPA Cebu were on sick leave.
Those who got sick complained of dizziness, headache and constant vomiting. They blamed the stench for their condition.
The two container vans were transferred behind the PPA Cebu office after port officials received a complaint from the management of Radisson Blu Hotel that the stench was affecting their clientele.
Before that, the container vans had been stored at the Cebu International Port since 2013.