DAGUPAN Mayor Belen Fernandez said it is only a matter of time before the more than 60-year-old dumpsite in Bonuan will finally be closed as hauling of excess garbage that have piled up there to the Urdaneta Sanitary Landfill is continuing.

Speaking at the city’s plaza during a flag-raising ceremony program, Fernandez also ordered a strict enforcement of the ban on scavengers as part of security measures following a series of suspicious fires that occurred there in the past, the latest of which was last February 1 when she was on official business in Manila.

The fire is believed not to have been triggered by methane gas in the garbage but an intentional burning of segregated wastes that were to be brought to the Holcim Plant in Norzagaray, Bulacan.

She said there are people, whose names she did not disclose, who are bent on sabotaging her initiative to close the dumpsite and convert it into a theme park.

Hauling of garbage to the Urdaneta landfill was hastened, according to the mayor, with the use of four brand new dump trucks purchased by the Dagupan City government following the approval of Supplemental Budget No. 2 of 2024 in November last year by her allies in the Sangguniang Panlungsod.

Together with two other old and newly overhauled dump trucks of the city, all these are hauling three truckloads of garbage each or 18 truck loads daily to the Urdaneta landfill.

These 18 truckloads of garbage is more than the total daily garbage that the city is producing, Fernandez explained.

The dumpsite’s overdue closure and conversion is also in line with the soon-to-be built P60 million MacArthur Memorial Park under Senator Grace Poe’s fund and the ongoing P100 million One-Bonuan Pavillion under Senator Risa Hontiveros.

The mayor has also tasked City Legal Officer Aurora Valle and City Waste Management Division chief Bernard Cabison to organize the first-ever summit that will tackle the city’s garbage crisis.  (Leonardo Micua)

Share your Comments or Reactions

comments

Powered by Facebook Comments