By ALDWIN QUITASOL
www.nordis.net

BAGUIO CITY — The city government of Baguio still owes over P40 million to private haulers William T. Go of Goldrich Construction and trading, Mark Camilo and Fred Fangonon.

The private companies hauled the garbage from the August 27 trash slide in Irisan Dumpsite last year to present.
According to General Services Officer and waste management head Romeo Concio during the regular session of the Baguio City Council, they are negotiating with officials for the use of an engineered sanitary landfill (ESL) in Urdaneta City, Pangasinan. He said Baguio will be able to save funds if this will materialize. This he said will lessen the city’s expenses on the transport of garbage.

Mayor Mauricio G. Domogan said he talked with a private contracting company hauling garbage from other cities. He added that the proposal is being studied.

Domogan however said that they are not abandoning the proposed ESL in Ampucao, Itogon. He said that the city welcomes whichever will materialize. He also said that they are looking for a new technology that will process residual waste.

Protech Machinery Corporation represented by its vice president Luis Lu Jr. was invited to the council meeting but failed to attend. The council wants Protech to explain its continuing non-compliance to its obligation in its contract with the city.

According to Concio, the trash company did not haul out the city’s residual wastes as part of the contract for the purchase of the two multimillion Environmental Recycling System (ERS) since December last year.
Domogan through a letter last June 8 ordered Protech to start hauling all the residuals by virtue of the contract and in accordance with his admission in his testimony before the city council that the garbage firm has the obligation to haul out residual trash of Baguio.

The council then asked the city legal office to review the contract with Protech to determine the possibility of a demand letter to the company. The body also asked that a legal action be taken for possible breach of contract committed by the trash company.

The members of the council asked Concio to submit documents on the volume of garbage fed to the ERS machines and hauled out from January to July this year. The councilors also requested the waste head to submit documents on past performance report and present status of the solid waste management program (SWMP). They also asked him to present future plans and possible amendments to the 10- year SWMP within two weeks.#Aldwin Quitasol