BANQUEROHAN, Legazpi City --- The City Government of Legazpi is expected to open its modern P43-million Sanitary Landfill Facility located in this barangay in August this year. The open dump site will be closed after the opening of the sanitary landfill.

        Mayor Noel E. Rosal, the outgoing city mayor, made this announcement during a simple on-site ceremony held last June 25. City government officials, barangay council members and the local media motored to this southern barangay, 22 kilometers away from the city proper, to visit the site.

        The Sanitary Landfill Facility has been constructed on a 1.5- hectare lot here. The project was financed with a 1.5 million euro grant from the Agencia Española de Cooperacion Internacional para el Desarollo (AECID) or the Spanish Agency for International Development.

        The sanitary landfill consists of two concrete cells where the non-recyclable materials and special wastes will be deposited and covered with soil, an administration building, a park and a motorpool.

         The concrete cell will have a life span of five years. Mayor Noel Rosal said that the implementation of a sanitary landfill facility is mandated by RA 9003, otherwise known as the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000.

        In support of RA 9003, the City Government also enacted City Ordinance No. 0017-2009 providing for mandatory segregation of biodegradable wastes from the non-recyclable materials.

        He said that only about 30% of all the garbage in Legazpi City classified as residual will go to the sanitary landfill while the rest could be recycled or manufactured into compost fertilizer.

        He reminded all Legazpeños that eco-aids or collectors will not collect garbage unless they are segregated. Rosal added that all the garbage bins in the city will be withdrawn. Residents may deposit their segregated wastes at the barangay drop off centers,

        Salve Corall, head of the Office of the City Environment and Natural Resources (OCENR) which is implementing the Ecological Solid Waste Management Program said that all the garbage bins will be withdrawn effective July 15.

        Among those present during the briefing were Mayor-elect Geraldine B. Rosal, wife of the outgoing mayor, Councilor-elect Melissa Abadeza, Councilors Raul Rosal, Cerilio Chan, Alex Sy, and Phil Ruivivar and Lea F. Cea of AECID who discussed the livelihood component of the project.

        Earlier, Roderick Abache, a staff of OCENR, briefed the barangay officials on how to turn biodegradable waste materials into compost or organic fertilizer. The touring barangay officials had visited the shredding facilities of OCENR at the City Public Market and the composting plant at Brgy. San Roque.


WASTE MANAGEMENT. At the Sanitary Landfill project in Brgy. Banquerohan, Legazpi City, outgoing City Mayor Noel E. Rosal explains the mechanics of the Ecological Solid Waste Management Program under RA 9003 as his wife Mayor-elect Geraldine B. Rosal (left) and Lea F. Cea of the Agencia Española de Cooperacion Internacional para del Desarollo (AECID), the partner agency (center) listen.

FPNARITO

CLEANER WASTE DISPOSAL. Cell 2 of the Legazpi City Sanitary Landfill which is nearing completion is shown in this photo.

FPNARITO