By Nitz Arancon CITY hall yesterday started planting trees at a portion of the sanitary landfill in Upper Dagong in Carmen which officials want to transform into a park. Close to two thousand seedlings of Mahogany, Golden Shower and teakwood were planted by the City Local Environment and Natural Resources Office (Clenro) employees and the Cagayan de Oro Scavengers Association at the dump site. How the dumpsite look like before photo taken on July 16, 2015. How the dumpsite look like before photo taken on July 16, 2015. According to Elvisa Mabilin, chief of the Solid Waste Management Division of Clenro, they have managed to cover a total of nine hectares of the 17-hectare landfill. The activity was part of the Clenro’s “Adopt a Tree Program,” and Mayor Oscar Moreno’s “Closure and Rehabilitation” program for the dumpsite in Upper Carmen. “Ang plano gud ni Mayor Moreno ani nga basurahan, himo-on niya nga park, mao ni nga atong gitamnan ug mga kahoy aron dili na gyud labayan sa basura dinhi,” Mabilin said. Mabilin said the closure and rehabilitation program of the dumpsite would have been done a long time ago if only the city council acted and approved the P98-million budget needed for the program. Mabilin said an engineering study showed that in order to complete the dumpsite project, they would need to bench the accumulated garbage to prevent landslides, have a proper drainage system and gas vents so that the methane gas in the landfill could be siphoned off, and plant trees for a healthy environment. (nitz arancon)