DENR-Central Visayas Director John Edward Ang fully lifted the cease-and-desist order (CDO) issued against landfill operator Prime Waste Solutions Cebu Inc. (PWSI) on Jan. 12, subject to several conditions.
The move could pave the way for Cebu City to resume disposing of its waste at the Binaliw facility. Its closure forced the city to haul garbage to Aloguinsan, about 61 kilometers southwest of Cebu City, significantly increasing logistics costs.
Bidding
But Kenneth Siasar, chief of staff of Mayor Nestor Archival, said PWSI did not participate in the city’s two most recent bidding rounds for its waste disposal contract while awaiting the full lifting of the CDO.
Siasar said the city had conducted three bidding rounds since May. PWSI joined the first but was disqualified for failing to submit the required documents. It skipped the next two while waiting for DENR clearance to resume full operations. No other waste disposal company submitted a bid.
Siasar told a news conference on Aug. 24 that the mayor had been notified by the DENR that the CDO against PWSI had been fully lifted.
“Tabangan nato ug ampo, hangyo, i-encourage nato nga unta malamdagan ang hunahuna sa maong kompanya and then mu-apil na siya sa atong bidding nga pagahimuon (Let us all help by praying, asking, encouraging that the company would be enlightened and participate in the upcoming bidding process),” he told reporters.
Tragedy
At least 36 people were killed when the midsection of the PWSI-operated landfill in Barangay Binaliw, a mountain village about 17 kilometers from Cebu City proper, collapsed on the afternoon of Jan. 8.
The DENR immediately ordered the landfill closed pending an investigation, leaving the cities of Cebu, Lapu-Lapu and Mandaue scrambling to find alternative disposal sites for their waste.
Cebu City was forced to haul its garbage to Aloguinsan, about 61 kilometers southwest of the city, significantly increasing disposal and transportation costs amid high diesel prices.
The Office of the Mayor received a letter from DENR-7 on Aug. 20 informing the city that the agency had fully lifted the CDO against PWSI. The decision followed an Aug. 4 evaluation by DENR field personnel and an endorsement from the Multi-Partite Monitoring Team (MMT), which includes a representative from the Cebu City Environment and Natural Resources Office.
The notice to the mayor came a day after DENR-7 Director John Edward Ang informed Arsenio Abellana, PWSI general manager, of the decision in a separate letter dated Aug. 19.
In the one-page letter, Ang said the CDO was fully lifted after PWSI complied with the DENR’s operational and other directives, including requirements under its Environmental Compliance Certificate, and met its rehabilitation targets.
Guidelines
Ang, however, reminded PWSI to comply with DENR guidelines to ensure the landfill operates safely.
The DENR limited the acceptance of residual waste to the toe cell and interim cell areas, with a maximum volume of 500 metric tons per day. It also required PWSI to establish an adequate buffer zone.
PWSI must also install and maintain high-definition closed-circuit television cameras at strategic locations within the landfill.
The company is required to conduct regular Multipartite Monitoring Team meetings and site validations while continuing rehabilitation work, benching activities and slope-stabilization measures.
The DENR also directed PWSI to submit within 15 days the measures it would adopt to address the potential effects of the expected El Niño phenomenon. —Ed: Corrie S. Narisma
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