3-day ‘waste summit’ to tackle rehabilitation of Inayawan landfill

THE safe closure and rehabilitation of the 15.4-hectare Inayawan Sanitary landfill is one of the concerns that will be tackled during the three-day waste management summit organized by the Cebu City Government.The three-day “waste summit” started on Wednesday, April 6, 2022, at the SM Seaside City Cebu.In his keynote message, Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama said when he first became mayor in 2011, he was able to order the closure of the controversial landfill due to “political will.”Rama’s administration decided to close down the old landfill in compliance with Republic Act 9003 or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000. His move then was lauded by environmentalists.But Rama lamented that his successor, Tomas Osmeña, reopened the landfill in 2016.“There were a lot of environmentalists pounding, hammering, (me, saying) ‘you should close the landfill’ and I did it. But another mayor came in, for heaven’s sake, why must it be opened?” Rama said.“I cannot in conscience being a public servant that I will leave a legacy of incompetence, a legacy of deprivation, and a legacy of inaction and insensitivity,” he added.In 2016, Osmeña reopened the landfill after he secured permission from the national government agencies such as the Environmental Management Bureau of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.Osmeña then ordered the landfill reopened as a way to save City funds as Rama’s administration had turned to the use of a private landfill then.Aside from rehabilitating the Inayawan landfill, Rama said the three-day summit will also be an opportunity for the city to craft a 10-year solid waste management plan.Rama added the summit will help him achieve his dream for Cebu City to become a “highly urbanized, smart, globally competitive, and environmentally-friendly city.”The issues on the sustainability of waste reduction and waste diversion programs at the barangay level will also be tackled together with the failure to properly and fully implement the “no segregation, no collection” policy.Rama said these environmental issues should be talked about and solutions must be crafted to solve this.The summit was attended by officials of national government agencies, non-government organizations, solid waste management solution companies, and solid waste generators like hotels and restaurants.