City Councilor to push P30 million dumpsite transfer

• Source: http://www.sunstar.com.ph/cagayan-de-oro/local-news/2015/08/09/city-councilor-push-p30-million-dumpsite-transfer-423567
• Saturday, August 8, 2015

By Froilan Gallardo

CAGAYAN de Oro City Councilor Zaldy Ocon has said he will push for the release of P30 million for the transfer of the garbage dump to a new sanitary landfill site in Barangay Pagatpat after residents complained of the dump's health risks.

Residents of Golden Village, ACCO Homes, Zone 8, and Sacred Heart Village has long complained of smell and potential health risks from the garbage dump which was supposed to have been close in 2006.

“This has to stop. We have to press the City Council to release the money. The residents are already at risks every day,” Ocon said.

The opposition-dominated City Council have blocked the P30 million money that would have transferred the disposal of garbage to the new site in Barangay Pagatpat.

Councilor President Elipe (Padayon Pilipino) said the administration of Mayor Oscar Moreno has not given sufficient explanation to the details of where the money would be spent.

Ocon said he could not understand why Elipe would object to the transfer especially since the City Council passed an ordinance for the transfer back in 2010.

“Why are they reneging on the ordinance that they themselves have passed in 2010,” Ocon said.

According to the City Local Environment and Natural Resources Office (CLENRO), the dump in sitio Zayas has long reached more than its capacity of one million tons of garbage.

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources has ordered the closure of the garbage dump because of overcapacity.