Reports of stench waft in again

CEBU, Philippines — With the onset of rainy days, Cebu City Councilor David Tumulak reported receiving another complaint from residents of Barangay Kalunasan of the stench reportedly coming from the wastewater facilities of the two jails located in the barangay.

Tumulak is the council’s chairman of the committee on Disaster Risk Reduction Management, Safety, and Climate Change Adaptation.

“For the past few days sunod-sunod nga uwan, naka-receive ta’g complaints nga baho g’yud. Atong i-review ang wastewater facility diin ang city government dunay gi-appropriate nga budget for the water treatment facility,” he told reporters.

Tumulak said the city government should also talk to officials of the provincial government since the jails involved are the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center and the Cebu City Jail.

He said he will ask the executive department to check on the P2-million rehabilitation of the wastewater facility to address the health and environmental concerns of the residents living near the jails.

The facility will also be utilizing a bio-digester which uses chemicals to neutralize the odor.

Tumulak said the problem is the wastewater treatment facility of the jails in the barangay, adding that the rehabilitation of the facility would pave the way for the treatment of waste from the jails.

“Actually, ni-overflow ang ilang wastewater sa CPDRC ug city jail kay wala naman naka-process iyang karaan nga water treatment,” he said.

While waiting for the completion of the rehabilitation of the wastewater facility, he said he will coordinate with the executive department on the suction of the water from the facility.

Tumulak said the problem has been there for two years and the city has been employing a short-term solution which is to hire accredited firms to get the wastewater from the facility and dispose of it in their own way.

Meanwhile, in his social media account, Fr. Manuel Tan, parish priest of the Archdiocesan Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe, also complained about the foul odor enveloping Kalunasan which, according to him, has been a problem for two years now.

Tan said that the residents have maintained the cleanliness of the river flowing through the barangay, but the odor problem persists due to the waste being dumped by the Cebu City Jail.

He said that they learned about this from the City Health Office after they filed a complaint.

He added because it seems there has been no effort by the city government to resolve the issue, residents have now sought the help of the ombudsman.

A photo on Tan’s social media account showed him celebrating Mass while covering his mouth and nose because of the stench. — BRP (FREEMAN)