A team of specialists from the Czech Republic returned to Naga City this month to assist in the implementation of the city government's 10-year solid waste plan.
Jan Pavlik, the team's project manager, was accompanied by technical experts Jaroslav Jakubes, Jiri Klicpera, Jaroslav Koubal, and Ivo Pospisil. The experts conducted several inspections and engaged in dialogues with some city officials during their week-long stay.
The team arrived in Naga in the morning of June 15 and met with city Environment and Natural Resources Officer (ENRO) Oscar Orozco to discuss recent developments of the proposed sanitary landfill to be created in the adjacent municipality of Magarao.
According to Orozco, the city's 10-year solid waste plan is nearing completion and will be ready for presentation to the solid waste management board and the city council before being considered for approval by Mayor Jesse Robredo. The ENRO officer believes that the whole process will take about two months.
The Czech specialists also conferred with city officials about the final closure of the open controlled dumpsite in Barangay Balatas. Orozco estimates that the landfill can be decommissioned by 2011.
A proposed alternate sanitary landfill is set to rise in Magarao with the city still seeking for the municipal government's approval. Public consultation was also done during the experts' visit. Orozco says that while not all residents of Magarao are in favor of the proposed new site, many of the concerns aired during the consultation dwelled on technical issues like the possibility of groundwater contamination and the risk of leaching.
The city ENRO officer says that the questions raised were well appreciated and will be addressed by the city and the experts when the specialists return in August. He also added that unlike open controlled dumpsites, there is virtually no risk of contamination from sanitary landfills like the one proposed.
The planned 12.7 hectare landfill is set to be one of the most advanced solid waste facilities in the country with the capability to harness methane gas from decaying garbage for conversion into renewable energy.
A series of expanding, clothe-like barriers and rubberized plastic barriers lining the bottom of the landfill will prevent any harmful materials from seeping into the groundwater, says Orozco. Drainage and methane-collecting pipes will also gather methane from decomposing garbage material and will be collected in storage tanks. The gas can be used to produce electricity.
Orozco hopes that in about thirty to forty years, the then-decommissioned Naga City landfill in Barangay Balatas can be converted into an open park, much like the old landfills in the Czech Republic. He adds that the 50 hectare garbage facility in the European country can produce around 600 KVA of electricity with continuous methane production. The proposed sanitary landfill in Magarao is expected to be in service for at least thirty years.