Atienza cites Singapore’s sanitary landfill

as model waste facility

By Jonathan Mayuga

ENVIRONMENT Secretary Lito Atienza is calling for the establishment and sound management of landfills as he pushes for the closure of all open dumps which, he said, continue to pose risk to people’s health and the environment.

“There is definitely hope for the country’s garbage problem,” said Atienza, who gained inspiration from Singapore’s Pulau Semaku Off-Shore Sanitary Landfill, a reclaimed 350-hectare island that will serve as Singapore’s main waste-disposal facility.

The Semaku landfill was opened in 1999 and is capable of carrying 63 million cubic meters of waste. It will serve as Singapore’s main disposal facility even beyond 2045. The landfill also serves as an ecotourism destination for fishing, bird watching, biodiversity, stargazing, mangrove development, and educational and recreational outing.

“As leaders, we are constantly searching for models that we can emulate and base our improvements on, and Pulau Semaku is one of them,” Atienza said.

Atienza was in Singapore recently to attend the Water Leaders Summit and address the Southeast Asia Business Forum.

A sanitary landfill is an engineered garbage- disposal site properly designed, constructed, operated and maintained in a manner that poses the least environmental impact.

According to Atienza, an island sanitary landfill for Metro Manila may be doable after all, so long as we can bring the cost down and secure appropriate engineering interventions to address the effects of typhoons.  “The technology for preventing seepage of leachate to the sea and the ground appears to be working in the Semaku landfill,” he said. “Up to this point in time, sad to say, we still have 713 open dumpsites operating in the country,” he said.   

According to Atienza, open dumps are the biggest violation one can commit against Republic Act 9003, otherwise known as the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act. “It is also one of the major contributors to the deteriorating problems of global warming,” he added. “Making the shift from open dumpsites to acceptable disposal facilities as provided for in the law is being intensified by the DENR with the support of local governments. We have already identified 211 potential sanitary-landfill sites nationwide to effectively manage the disposal of the country’s waste,” the DENR chief said.

Oil companies raise prices of diesel, kerosene gasoline and LPG

MOTORISTS will again have to rethink their budgets when they refill their fuel tanks, as oil companies have adjusted the price of diesel and kerosene by P2 per liter, gasoline by P1/liter and P1.50 per kilo for liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).

Bizmen to ask government to allow regional chambers to take part in IRA allocation

FILIPINO businessmen will petition the government to allow the different regional business chambers throughout the country to participate in the allocation of the internal revenue allotments (IRAs) given to local government units (LGUs).

RP sets temporary ban on poultry, wild birds from Arkansas, UK, Haiti

THE Philippines imposed a temporary ban on the importation of poultry products, including poultry meat, day-old chicks, eggs and wild birds, from the United Kingdom, Haiti and Arkansas, United States, following the detection of the avian influenza (AI) in their farms.

ERC studying viability of introducing prepaid electricity-metering services

HOPING to give consumers a way to control over the electric consumption, the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) is looking at coming up with rules that will kick off the offering of prepaid electricity-metering services in the country.

ERC decides to make use of Napocor time-of-use rates during WESM’s 3rd and 4th month of operations

INSTEAD of having consumers pay for higher market settlement, the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) directed the implementation of the National Power Corp.’s (Napocor) time-of-use (TOU) rates for the third and fourth billing periods of the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM).

Mandaue mayor says his city has regained confidence of traders

MANDAUE City Mayor Jonas Cortes on Friday reported to the city council that the city has already regained the confidence of businessmen as the administration continues to clean up the city’s reputation as one of the hardest to start a business in.

Atienza cites Singapore’s sanitary landfill as model waste facility

ENVIRONMENT Secretary Lito Atienza is calling for the establishment and sound management of landfills as he pushes for the closure of all open dumps which, he said, continue to pose risk to people’s health and the environment.