Aklan engineered sanitary landfill pushed

BY BOY RYAN B. ZABAL

 

The provincial government of Aklan is bent on operating an engineered sanitary landfill to help solve the waste management problem in the capital town of Kalibo and its adjacent towns.

Aklan Governor Florencio Miraflores has expressed intentions to develop hectares of government property in the town of Makato as ideal site for a provincial engineered disposal facility.

He gave the go signal to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources to conduct study if the proposed sanitary landfill would have negative effects to the health and environment of the communities surrounding the dumpsite.

“The site should be suitable for landfill and has minimum potential risks to environment and human health. We have been looking for possible locations for the sanitary landfill to help Kalibo but there were no available land for landfill development. The provincial government is now eyeing a government lot in Makato to be utilized for engineered sanitary landfill,” Miraflores stressed. 

The proposed sanitary landfill requires engineering design, cost estimates and feasibility study on possible impacts on sanitation, soil erosion, water pollution, land use and utilization of local resources, topography and geographical features.

The governor said the town of Kalibo is a rapidly booming municipality, but, to date the waste materials are disposed in its open dumpsite in Barangay Bakhaw Sur facing the Sibuyan Sea.   

Miraflores said it will also open the engineered sanitary landfill to the local government units of New Washington and Numancia for the disposal of its wastes once the plan pushed through.

Three years ago, the town of Malay opened its sanitary landfill in Barangay Kabulihan in mainland Malay to address the solid management issues in Boracay Island. 

As part of the 10-year Solid Waste Management Plan in accordance with Republic Act No. 9003 or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000, the local government of Malay also established a centralized Material Recovery Facility in Barangay Balabag to segregate truckloads of garbage collected daily.