Ozamiz local government allots P135M for solid waste management system

Monday 24th of September 2012

OZAMIZ CITY, Misamis Occidental, Sept 24 (PIA) -- The city government of Ozamiz has allotted P135 million for the development of its solid waste management system.

The amount will be loaned from the Landbank of the Philippines.

The bulk of the funds (P95 million or 70.37 percent) will be used to buy the needed heavy equipment for garbage collection, while P40 million or 29.63 percent of the amount will be used to construct a sanitary landfill.

The landfill facility, which has an area of 5.7 hectares, is located in a government-owned property in Barangay Kinuman Norte, some 15 kilometers from the urban center, Mayor Nova Princess E. Parojinog-Echavez said.

She said the city has already bought brand new heavy equipment for garbage collection and landfill operation to ensure their durability and tenure amounting P95 million.

Equipment included a hydraulic crawler excavator, garbage compactor trucks, a wheel loader, a sanitary landfill compactor, a backhoe, and a pay-loader.

On the other hand, the mayor said the development of a dependable SWMS has been cited among the city’s top priority, after the volume of un-segregated garbage continued to rise.

Data from the General Services Office show that an estimated 60 to 70 tons of un-segregated garbage are collected every day from the 23 urban barangays out of 51 barangays, in the city.

The mayor said this estimate is based on the number of dumping trips made by the garbage collection trucks of the city government, daily, on the three-hectare, local government unit-owned open but controlled dumpsite in Barangay Bongbong.

She noted that the city’s urban population, which has radically ballooned in the past two decades, accounts for about 80 percent of the city’s total population with concentration in its 23 urban barangays, which, in turn, comprise about 20 percent of the city’s total land area. (CIO/EOR/RCA-PIA10, Misamis Occidental)