BY CHRYSEE G. SAMILLANO
The chairman of the Committee on Environment and Ecology of the Sangguniang Panlungsod of Bacolod City will be calling for a public hearing on the resolution passed by the Felisa Barangay Council requesting the mayor not to extend the contract of IPM-Construction Development Corp. (IPM-CDC) for the management and operation of the sanitary landfill in the barangay after December 31.
IPM-CDC won the bid for the environment and sanitary services of Bacolod City covering May 1 to December 31 in the amount of P256 million.
Bacolod Councilor Carlos Jose Lopez yesterday said he had already submitted a copy of the resolution of Felisa to the Sanggunian and will call for a public hearing to hear all the stakeholders.
Lopez said he will reserve his comment until after he has conducted a public hearing on the matter and will issue his personal stand perhaps next week after hearing them all out.
Aside from Felisa, he has gathered information that there appears to be no other feasible area to transfer the sanitary landfill. So, he wants to find a solution to the problem, he said.
He is concerned with what is happening in the area, particularly that the landfill will be full by December, he added.
Lopez said he understands the concern of the barangay concerning the alleged violation of IPM-CDC in the maintenance and operation of the sanitary landfill. Because he himself has been pounding on the contractor’s lack of improvement in their performance.
Meanwhile, Horace Yap, IPM-CDC consultant, said they have received a copy of the resolution of Felisa and were also informed by City Legal Office Joselito Bayatan of the matter. But it is not for IPM-CDC to decide when to end the contract. The decision lies with the city.
He pointed out, however, that they have not received any complaint from Department of Environment and Natural Resources-Environmental Management Board (DENR-EMB) or the city government concerning any violation they have committed in the management and operation of the sanitary landfill. It is the city or DENR-EMB that should inform them if there was any violation, he said.
Yap said IPM-CDC has a pending public-private partnership proposal with the city to purchase a 22-hectare property adjacent to the existing facility. The city is now in the process of forming a committee to handle the PPP.
They are now preparing the design of the new landfill facility in Felisa. They also plan to put up a material recovery facility within the property, he said.*
