BENGUET'S capital town, La Trinidad, is back to hauling of its solid waste.
Starting September 3, some 28 tons of waste were delivered by two 10-wheeler trucks to Urdaneta City in Pangasinan.
Mayor Romeo Salda said the two trucks of the municipality are set to haul 30 tons of garbage per day as the regular hauling activity continues until December 2018 after cell three of the Alno engineered sanitary landfill (ESL) was already packed to the brim, reaching its maximum capacity of 67,600 cubic meters on August 20 this.
In a bid to solve the garbage woes, the expansion of cell three with 3,800 square meters area continue. Alno's ESL total land area is 235,600 cubic meters which is divided into four cells.
Salda earlier said P1 million was set aside for emergency hauling purposes. In addition, the mayor added that P2.5 million was allotted in the supplemental budget for tipping fees of the hauling activity.
To complete the cell three expansion, additional funding of P5 million was earmarked added the mayor. Another P9.4 million is allocated for equipment to buy 10-wheeler and six-wheeler trucks for hauling activities.
La Trinidad records show an increase of unsegregated waste from January to April 2018.
To aid in the solid waste management, the local council has recently approved an ordinance institutionalizing the Bantay Basura program which prohibit untimely disposal of waste, non-segregation, open dumping, and improper garbage storage system.
Meanwhile, the P220-million grant from the Asian Development Bank for the Alno Engineered Sanitary Landfill was not approved.
Salda received the information from Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) undersecretary for Policy, Planning and International Affairs lawyer Jonas Leones who wrote the mayor that upon the review of the ADB's Country Operations Business Plan for 2018 to 2020 and in consultation with National Economic Development Authority (Neda) the proposed Philippine Solid Waste Management Sector Project was dropped.
The municipality applied for the grant last year to accommodate additional volume of waste in the Valley.
Leones added the DENR, Department of Finance and Neda PIS-Staff agreed to push through with the processing of the project without identified funding source.
"Neda will review the proposed project based on its technical viability and if found feasible, DOF will identify/recommend fund sources for the project," the letter added.
Salda said they are looking at cell 4, the largest inside the Alno ESL to be the main dump of the municipality which is seen to have a 10-year lifespan.
