By LITO RULONA
Correspondent
AS city hall shuts down operations at the city sanitary landfill in Carmen today, some 400 families that have been dependent on scavenging there are worried about how they would be able to make both ends meet.
The scavengers were told by city hall representatives that they would be barred from the new city dump in Barangay Pagalungan, said Lorna Medio who spoke on behalf of the families.
When city hall announced that it would close down the Carmen sanitary landfill, many people living at the Mother Ignacia Foundation area did not see it as good news.
The 59-year old Medio said, “Diri na ko naminyo ang midaghan akong mga anak pero ugma wala na kami’y kinitaan.”
The city government is set to halt the operations of the Carmen sanitary landfill today after it put in place high-density polyethylene and geosynthetic clay liners at the new city dump. The liners are meant to prevent seepage, collect and properly dispose toxic liquid from the garbage at the new sanitary landfill in Barangay Pagalungan, according to the City Local Environment and Natural Resources Office (Clenro).
Clenro head Edwin Dael said the scavengers would not be allowed at the Pagalungan dumpsite.
Medio said there are many other “mangaykayay” like her who have lived near the city dump in Carmen. Some of the families, she said, have been there for at least 40 years, and have turned garbage collection and segregation as their only means of livelihood.
She said the closure of the Carmen sanitary landfill was aggravated when local government representatives told them they would no longer be allowed to scavenge in Barangay Pagalungan.
Medio said the city government should reconsider. “Kung pasudlon mi sa landfill sa Pagalungan, willing kami nga mosunod sa area,” she said.
Medio said each scavenger earns an average of P150 a day by gathering and selling plastics, tin cans, bottles, among others.
“Pagkabalo namo nga i-close na siya, guol kaayo mis tanan. Lami kaayo ihilak. Mao ni ang problema. Unsa may panginabuhian namo nga mga tigulang naman mi? Daghan koy apo, mga anak walay mga bana, wala pa gyuy grado,” she said.
City hall conducted an assessment and profiling of the affected families so that it could determine which livelihood programs, skills training and other assistance the local government can offer them.
But Medio said while city hall’s Social Community and Development Office has been in touch with them through several fora and consultations, there was no clear offer of an alternative means of living for them.
“Diri na namatay among mga ginikanan unya karon nga edad-edaran na kami wala pa mapahiluna sa city government,” Medio said.
Julius Pamisa, a division head at the Social Community and Development Office, said the local government cannot provide jobs for the displaced families who would be adversely affected by the closure of the Carmen sanitary landfill.
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