SAN JOSE, Antique – This capital town is planning to construct a sanitary landfill worth P20 million near the old dumpsite area in Barangay Pantao.
“The old open regulated dumpsite in Pantao had already been there for decades,” Mayor Elmer Untaran said on Jan 10.
He added the fund will come from the office of Antique Lone District Rep. Loren Legarda and the project is expected to be finished within the year.
Around 16 tons of solid wastes are disposed of daily in the open dumpsite, which is nearly full, he said.
Starting this March, the local government unit (LGU) will strictly implement its ordinance on solid waste management wherein unsegregated garbage will not be collected, Untaran added.
“The barangays will take charge of collecting garbage from the households to the materials recovery facility (MRF) in every barangay,” he said, adding the five garbage trucks of the LGU will collect the garbage from the MRF to the sanitary landfill.
“With strict waste segregation by the households, we hope that half of the 16 tons of solid wastes will be reduced,” Untaran said.
He added other LGUs could possibly have a cluster and establish a common sanitary landfill.
Recently, Josephine Maguad of the Provincial Environment Management Office said LGUs in the province were unable to establish their sanitary landfill because it entails cost and their proposed sites could hardly pass the criteria based on the environmental and geological assessments.
“Putting up a sanitary landfill really requires allocation,” added Maguad.(With a report from PNA/PN)
