Murcia is the first town in Negros Occidental to have a sanitary landfill, Murcia Mayor Gerry Rojas said.
“Out of the 19 towns and 13 cities in the province, we are only the 12th LGU to have this facility, the other 11 LGUs with sanitary landfills are all cities,” said Rojas, in a press release Sunday, June 9.
The town’s sanitary landfill at Brgy. Cansilayan was recently blessed and inaugurated.
A two-lane bridge which replaced the small often-flooded overflow bridge which serves as the major artery of barangays Sta. Rosa, Amayco and Canlandog in Murcia was also inaugurated.
Rojas said since he started as a public servant in Murcia 18 years ago, the town has been using the open pit dumpsite at Brgy. Iglau-an.
The Solid Waste Management Act, or Republic Act 9003 passed in 2000, prohibits open dumpsites and mandates all LGUs to construct sanitary landfills.
In compliance with RA 9003, Murcia constructed a sanitary landfill financed with local funds without availing of any loan, Rojas said.
“RA 9003 also mandates waste segregation. The implementation of any new policy is hard, but we need to do it for the benefit of future generations of Murciahanons,” he said.
“Barangay officials, in coordination with Murcia Solid Waste Management Focal Person, Gracelyn Palermo-Jamero, should lead by example and spearhead the drive in educating and convincing our constituents to practice waste segregation,” he stressed.
If properly managed, it will take up to 50 years to fill all the four cells of the new Murcia landfill, based on a study conducted by the local environment board, Rojas said.
The first open cell is more than half a hectare wide and about 10 meters deep.
Rojas said without proper waste segregation this cell can be filled in just two years.
The mayor underscored the importance of proper waste segregation, so that only residual wastes will be dumped in the landfill.
“It is no joke to build a sanitary landfill, considering that it costs around P30 million. We thank Gov. Bong Lacson for giving us P10 million to help in the construction. We programmed our funds to finance the balance, and we finished the construction in two and a half years,” he said.
“We will still construct fencing around this entire 5.5 hectare area, which also hosts an eco-park and the town’s new, much-wider motorpool,” Rojas added.
Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Officer Joan Nathaniel Gerangaya lauded the Murcia officials for constructing the sanitary landfill.*