October 21, 2022
ARN Central Waste Management Inc., the operator of a private landfill in Barangay Binaliw, Cebu City, plans to acquire a seven-hectare lot near its property.
During a dialogue with environment officials and residents in the barangay on Friday, Oct. 21, 2022, operators of the private landfill said they want to acquire additional lots near their property in order to establish a “buffer zone” where they can plant trees that can help absorb the foul smell coming from the landfill.
The landfill is currently sitting in a 10.4-hectare property in Barangay Binaliw.
ARN Central, however, needs to amend again its Environmental Compliance Certificate which it acquired in 2017 and amended in 2020 during the onset of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic to be able to develop the area.
Ret. Col. Jefferson Umandam of the Philippine Army, who was among the participants of the dialogue, said he and his fellow residents are not against the landfill as long as the unpleasant smell that it generates does not reach their homes.
Umandam, who lives in a subdivision near the landfill, said he and his wife complain about the foul odor coming from the landfill.
He said there were times that they wore face masks while sleeping so they could not inhale the foul smell.
Barangay Binaliw chief Vivian Ruste said the barangay is willing to give clearance to ARN Central if it wants to expand its area as part of its objective to eliminate the foul smell.
She also wanted to check on reports that the water that flows in Sangi Creek in Barangay Binaliw that flows to Barangay Panoypoy, Consolacion town has turned black and cannot be used anymore.
The landfill has been in operation since July 2019, and ARN Central Waste Management Inc. has been the Cebu City Government’s official landfill contractor following the closure of the Inayawan dumpsite in 2011. (PAC / TPT)