The city council in its regular session on March 8 approved a resolution authorizing Mayor Benjamin Magalong to sign a memorandum of agreement with Metro Clark Waste Management Corporation or other entities offering engineered sanitary landfill services at a lower cost and closer to the city to be used as its repository area of residual wastes.
The move came in the heels of the mayor’s urgent request upon learning that the sanitary landfill the city of Baguio was using in Urdaneta City, Pangasinan, and operated by Urdaneta Waste Management, was recently shut down.
Metro Clark operates and manages a sanitary landfill in Capas, Tarlac that was used by the city for several years before transferring to the Urdaneta facility.
The transfer, he said, was prompted by the cheaper tipping fees charged by the Urdaneta Waste company per ton of garbage as compared to that of Metro Clark. The Urdaneta landfill is also nearer, which means that Baguio spends much less in hauling charges.
“The savings realized by the city when it was using the Urdaneta facility as compared to that in Capas, Tarlac was very significant,” Buyucan said.
Should the city enter into an agreement with Metro Waste Management, he strongly suggested that it be on a monthly basis only.
Baguio’s original landfill at Irisan was closed due to a Writ of Kalikasan – an environmental protection order issued by the Supreme Court and is now being transformed into an eco-park as part of the city’s environment protection program.
On Jan. 11, 2019, the city government signed a MOA with Urdaneta Waste Management for the use of the latter’s landfill as disposal field of the city’s residual wastes for three years from Jan. 1, 2019 to Dec. 31, 2021.
On March 5, the Environmental Management Bureau shuttered the Urdaneta waste management facility following a cease and desist order from its central office due to violations. – Gaby B. Keith
April 19, 2024
