Candau-ay Dumpsite On Fire

It would also help if the markets and sari stores would stop putting a single pack of ciggys or any small items in plastic bags! I just don't see any sense in this!
Again the local governments making a rod for their own back when it comes to getting rid of garbage.

 

We put all the washed cans,glass and plastic bottles in a separate bag and our garbage men always like this as the sell it,we have quite a lot of garbage here and also give the guys a small payment every week.
They even turned up on Xmas day and New Years due to them being Friday's,they also knew if they did they would get a good tip

 

DUMAGUETE CITY, April 15 (PNA) -– Dumaguete City is now under a state of calamity after the City Council approved in a special session Thursday the amended resolution submitted by the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (CDDRMC) in relation to the “damaging fire and smoke” at its open dumpsite.

This means it can now utilize its calamity fund, specifically the Quick Reaction Fund, for the procurement of equipment and other materials required to stamp out the fire and smoke at the dumpsite, as well as for the purchase of medicines and other medical supplies like face masks.

City Administrator William Ablong had earlier presided over a meeting of the CDDRMC to find legal ways for the declaration of a state calamity as a preventive measure to avoid further harm especially to constituents living near the “burning” dumpsite in the outskirts village of Candauay.

He noted that the smoke emanating from the dumpsite thickens during night time and gets carried in different directions, depending on the direction of the winds.

Ablong explained that the law requires the declaration of a state of calamity before a local government unit, in this case, the city government, can utilize its calamity funds.

“We really need to comply with Memorandum Order No. 4, Series of 1998 as regards to the required 20 percent population affected by a calamity”, Ablong further explained.

To be able to achieve this, the CDRRMC amended its earlier resolution, dated April 12, 2016, increasing the number of barangays affected by the fire and the thick smoke from the dumpsite, from three to five.

The barangays are Candauay, Cadawinonan, Balugo, Camanjac and Batinguel. The total population of these five barangays would be around 30,000, more than the required 27,000 population for the declaration of the city under a state of calamity, Ablong said.

According to Ablong, the city government has to immediately buckle down to work to quell the “burning dumpsite” problem before it would get out of hand and there would be more collateral damage.

The CDRRMC proposal is to cover about 10,000 square meters of the garbage dumpsite with soil as spraying water will only aggravate the smoke, he added.

Dumaguete has a current calamity fund of about P28 million, 30 percent or some P8.4 million representing the Quick Response Fund, Ablong said.

It can be recalled that last April 9, fire believed to have been ignited by spontaneous combustion, engulfed a large part of the Candauay dumpsite, burning down tons of garbage as well as trees.

The fire was placed under control hours later but rekindled the following day and onwards, prompting the city government to deploy its water tanker and a fire truck to the dumpsite to continuously spray water over areas where sub-surface fires had originated.

But the thick smoke puts residents in the area at risk, while spraying of water is just a temporary or “band-aid” measure that needed a more permanent solution, Ablong said.

Ablong hurled a challenge to the next administration to seriously consider shutting down the open dumpsite in Candauay and purchase property in the nearby towns to host the sanitary landfill.

A controlled open dumpsite would also be a mid-term option for the city government while it has to find a location for a sanitary landfill, he said.

City Administrator Ablong explained a controlled dumping facility would mean the utilization of soil to cover the trash as well as other measures to allow the local government to effectively manage its solid waste. (PNA)