Payatas survivors speak out

Survivors of the July 10 Payatas trash-slide have threatened the Quezon City government with a law suit if it fails to shut down for good the 15-hectare collapsed in five days.

"We demand the immediate cessation of garbage dumping in Payatas," said a letter sent Monday by the Public Interest Law Center (PILC) to the Office of the Mayor on behalf of members of the July 10 Payatas Victims Organization (J10PVO).

"The continued operation of the dump presents a grave threat to life, health and safety of the residents of Payatas." Mayor Ismael Mathay Jr., however, could only shake his head.

"Our situation is such that we can’t do anything except keep the dump open for now," he said. "Until we are able to find an alternative landfill, we have no choice." He said the city will now have to resort to "controlled" dumping operations in Payatas because the city’s trash has nowhere else to go.

Mathay said the city government is not using the collapsed section of the dump but its "safe side." But PILC associate lawyer Rachel Pastores said the J10PVO has given the city government until Friday to stop the garbage dumping in Payatas.

She reminded the city government of a 1992 study made by Swedish firm warning of trash-slides at the dump and recommending its immediate closure. – Romel Bagares