PANABO CITY —- At the entrance one must think it is a posh subdivision with a sturdy guard house and the gate resembles tight security protocol but it is the entrance of the P82.9-million Panabo City Sanitary Landfill Facility.
EVen from a distance, the facility does not smell and no maggots insight.
The facility sits in the 10-hectare property owned by the city government in Barangay Waterdall, and the fund was a loan from Asian Development Bank, it opened on May, 2022, the current state of the landfill can last until ten years if the present volume of nonbiodegradable waste of the city will not increase.
The facility opened sometime February in 2022.
Panabo City has 40 barangays and the garbage collection is taken cared by the City Environment and Natural Resources (CENRO).
On January 27, the 21-man delegation from the city government of Lamitan, Basilan province visited the site, two days after the city government officials of General Santos City visited the place.
Engineer Oliver Oriol, the Assistant City Environment and Natural Resources Officer of Panabo told the visitors it is the second second modern santary landfill in Davao del Norte, as Island garden City of Samal has also established its own modern facility and ther fifth in Davao region.
“Our facility is environemtn friendly,” Oriol quipped “our facility can accomodate residual waste was allowed by the Republic Act 9003 o ang Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000 the city’sOrdinance No. 28 of 2005.
The compound is equipped with the Administrative Building, Watch Tower, Material Recovery Facility, Weighing Bridge, Wash Bay, Waste Disposal Cell/Pit, Waste Water Treatment Facility, Drainage and, the Guard House.
In an effort to instill dicispline and protect the environment, the city government passed City Ordinance No. 37-2021, also known as ‘An Ordinance Providing Rules, Penalties, and Regulations in the Operation of Panabo City Sanitary Landfill Facility.
It imposes tipping fee amounting t o P2.00/kilo for the city residents but if the garbage come from other town, it imposes P2.50/kilo.
- The law stipulated the following fines/penalties for violators:
- Unsegregated waste
- Illegal disposal
- Unauthorized garbage collection
- illegal entry;
- Disposal of chemicals, pathological and infectious wastes
- Entering the facility without covering th truck;
- All the above mentioned violations will be penalized :
- First Offense P500; Second offense P1,000 and third offense P3,000
City Administrator Pedrito Misoles said many local government units visited their facility as it reflects the modern sanitary landfill.
Misoles said the city government “needs to strictly follow the solid waste management law to be able to respond to the growing garbage problem not just in Panabo but also in nearby towns, we allow them to throw their garbage here but they must pay.”
The City government according to Misoles “Has a major role in the implementation of ordinance to erspond to the climate change problem.”-Editha Z. Caduaya
