Quezon City government closes Payatas dump
MANILA, Philippines - The Quezon City government will officially close today as mandated by the law the Payatas dumpsite after more than three decades of operation.
“Definitely, dumping will no longer be allowed there,” Quezon City Mayor Herbert Bautista said.
The city government’s Payatas Operations Group will ensure that there will be no more unloading of wastes in the old dump starting today.
The group would also undertake the maintenance of the dumpsite for rehabilitation.
Local officials have made a commitment to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources to shutdown the dump in compliance with the Solid Waste Management Act of 2000.
Aldrin Cuña, Bautista’s chief of staff, said the dumpsite will be closed and continue to undergo rehabilitation.
Cuña said after the closure of the Payatas dump, Quezon City garbage would be dumped at a 3.2-hectare sanitary landfill constructed near the old dumpsite. He said the new sanitary landfill could accommodate garbage only from Quezon City.
Cuña said the other cities like Taguig, Makati and Mandaluyong that used to dump their garbage at the Payatas dump would be using another facility in Rodriguez, Rizal.
Records from the city government showed that the new sanitary landfill has a capacity to hold 1,200 tons of garbage per day.
It is different from the open dump facility, with mechanisms to prevent the seepage of waste materials from the landfill.
The government lot where the landfill stands can accommodate an expansion of the facility to five hectares. Cuña said the contract to operate the landfill is good for three years and renewable once the contract ends.
Under the Solid Waste Management Act of 2000, the operation of controlled dumps is prohibited five years after the law was passed.
However, the city government continued to legally operate the Payatas controlled facility in accordance with the approved work plan issued by the DENR’s Environmental Management Bureau in May 2006. –
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