BAGUIO CITY – The Technical Working Group (TWG) tasked to conduct an evaluation and assessment on the feasibility of the Benguet Corporation’s open pit site in Antamok, Itogon, Benguet as a potential site for an integrated waste disposal facility reported that the site is suitable for the project, Mayor Mauricio G. Domogan reported here Wednesday.
However, he said that some members of the TWG are still looking into an alternate site nearby because there are settlers below the open pit area who will be affected by the solid waste disposal project once put in place.
“What is important is the site was found to be feasible and the project is doable that is why we will await the final recommendations of the TWG before we will work on how to go about the put up of the integrated solid waste disposal facility,” Domogan stressed.
He revealed the primary obligation of the city in the multipartite agreement will be the provision of the sufficient volume of garbage will be required by the waste-to-energy plant to generate power which could be sold to the grid and will provide income to the host communities.
Among the expected parties in the multipartite agreement will be the City Government of Baguio, Benguet Corporation as owner of the property, the Municipal Government of Itogon as host local government and the proponent of the waste-to-energy facility.
According to him, members of the TWG will be visiting the established waste-to-energy facilities In Ireland and Germany to asses and evaluate whether or not the proposed facilities will be suitable in the proposed project site.
Aside from the put-up of a centralized materials recovery facility, the integrated solid waste disposal facility will include the construction of a small engineered sanitary landfill, waste-to-energy plant, operation of the two Environmental Recycling System (ERS) machines, an anaerobic digester, health care and medical waste treatment plant and special waste treatment plant.
Domogan claimed the engineered sanitary landfill will be operational in the meantime that the waste-to-energy facility is being established to process the waste and it will be closed once the plant will be fully operational using generated waste from the Baguio, La Trinidad, Itogon, Sablan, Tuba and Tublay areas.
He disclosed the establishment of the waste-to-energy plant will be subjected to public biding and under the government’s Public-Private Partnership (PPP).
The mayor said the host local government will possibly derive income from the tapping fee to be collected from the localities interested to avail of the services of the facility or the sale of the energy to be sold to the grid./By Dexter A. See
