Albur landfill project bucked

Just as proponents of the Alburquerque Sanitary Landfill Facility were already discussing the funding requirements, a mammoth group of Alburanons stood in the way to block the implementation of the project. Like the story of The Town that Fought Back in the case of how the people of New Orleans picked up the pieces against the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, the local version of the environmental drama pitted the concerned Alburanons against the local government unit which is hell bent on implementing the project. “I don't care if the whole town is against the project. I will put my entire political career on the line if only to see the day that the project is implemented”, declared Alburquerque Mayor Efren Tungol in reaction to the positioning of the so-called Hugpong sa mga Alburanong Nagpakabana. With the mayor's hardline posture, the situation in Albur given the opposition of the people was likened to an irresistible force meeting an immovable object.

During Monday's session of the local Sangguniang Bayan, nine members of the opposition group appeared to register their objection to the project. The group which is said to have prominent citizens of Albur as its members has Engr Teodulo Pinlac, a former executive of the National Power Corp. as its president. The group will meet today and one of the topics expected to be discussed is a civil action seeking to stop the implementation of the project. Julius Bungabong who appeared to be the spokesman of the group claimed that about 80% of Alburanons are against the undertaking. The cluster facility will assemble 11 neighboring municipalities to dump their garbage in barangay Dangay, Alburquerque. Mayor Tungol wondered aloud why it took this long for the so-called concerned Alburanons to register their objection.

The mayor said a series of dialogue was conducted regarding the project but nobody stood up to oppose. It was only now that the project is showing signs of taking off the ground when the oppositors have banded together to oppose the project, the mayor added. However, those who are against the landfill facility are not entirely opposing the project if only it will be solely used by the host town.

What drove their goat is the prospect of other towns dumping their trash in Albur. The object of their opposition is the clustering aspect where 10 other towns will make use of the garbage dump. The towns are Maribojoc, Cortes, Corella, Sikatuna, Baclayon, Dauis, Panglao, Loay , Lila and Loboc. An open pit resulting from silica quarrying was offered by the Albur mayor to the landfill cluster. To be built at a cost of P85 million, the garbage facility is in compliance with the Solid Waste Management Act, a national law that provides for the proper disposal of trash. The money comes from the Philippine Tourism Authority. Only two weeks ago, Gov. Erico Aumentado announced that the funding of the project was already up for release.

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