QUEZON City Mayor Herbert Bautista on Friday instructed the Environmental Protection and Waste Management Department to come up with the terms of reference to determine the most appropriate alternative sites to address the city’s garbage disposal needs.
The department, headed by Frederika Rentoy, was urged to study what site could be the most cost-efficient for the city, considering its need for a bigger budget for hauling services once the Payatas dump is closed and the city’s disposal facility is forced to move elsewhere.
The Metro Manila Development Authority earlier designated Rizal’s Rodriguez sanitary landfill and Manila’s Vitas marine loading station as Quezon City’s temporary alternative disposal sites.
Rentoy said the reopening of the Payatas dump is necessary to give the city government ample time to prepare and institute its operationalization plan for a new garbage disposal and collection once the closure plan has been finalized.
The preparation shall include deliberating a need for a bigger budget, she added.
“It is necessary that a considerable amount time should be provided for by the Environmental Management Bureau of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources since the city council still has to deliberate on the supplemental budget that is needed in order for the city government to implement the plan,” Rentoy noted.
Based on the EPWMD record, the city is spending P780 million per year for hauling services to Payatas against the hauling cost of P1.7 billion if the city’s disposal facility is moved to Rizal and Manila.
Moreover, Rentoy said, it is imperative to look into the readiness of the garbage disposal facilities that are being offered to the city, and to check on the capability of a big hauling fleet.
Quezon City uses 550 trucks for its garbage collection and disposal fleet.
Rentoy urged the city’s three million constituents to practice the reuse, reduce and recycle waste segregation system in their households.
“We are appealing to the residents of Quezon City to manage their trash. It is not only the government that should take steps, but also the residents,” she said.
She gave the residents that assurance that solutions are being hammered out, and that the city’s sanitation will be maintained.
For garbage collection concerns, residents may call the city’s Solid Waste Management Division’s garbage collection section at 988-4242 local 8350.