The Environment Management Bureau (EMB) of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources 6 (DENR-6) urged municipalities to convert their dumpsites into eco-parks if they can't afford to put up sanitary landfills.

According to OIC Regional Director Atty. Jonathan Bulos, open dumpsites pollute the air in the surrounding areas, according to a study that EMB made.

Bulos said that not all towns can put up a sanitary landfill because it is expensive.

"We have already given advisories to LGUs to rehabilitate their dumpsites. We encouraged them to convert their open dumpsites into ecological parks in order to mitigate the health problems of the residents near the sites," he said.

Currently, there are four sanitary landfills operating in the region particularly in Bacolod City and three component cities of Negros Occidental particularly in San Carlos, Bago and Sipalay.

Bulos said three landfills in Malay, Aklan, Cadiz City in Negros Occidental and Passi City in Iloilo are currently under construction and will be operational before the year ends.

CALAJUNAN

Meanwhile, the three-hectare Calajunan dumpsite in Mandurriao district, Iloilo City is on a transition stage.

Solid Waste Management Chief Emmaculate Juntarciego said more than half of the total dumping site area is now closed to give way to its conversion as a sanitary landfill.

The end portion of the 23-hectare Calajunan dumpsite is being used as the new dumping site for almost 170 metric tons of collected garbage in the city everyday.

Presently, Calajunan is now implementing the Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) that converts biodegradable materials into compost. The MRF also has a drying area.

Juntaciego said the present practice in Calajunan does not totally address the garbage collection problem in the city but it helps.

STUDY

The Iloilo City's Solid Waste Management Board (SWMB) now is finalizing the feasibility study on the dumpsite-landfill conversion.

Iloilo City Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog, SWMB chairman, admitted that the feasibility study will be revised for the third time so that the clean development mechanism (CDM) will be integrated into the sanitary landfill project.

Mabilog said the development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) has assured the city of a P60-million loan. There is also fund assistance from German Development Bank.*