THE Urdaneta City Engineered Sanitary Landfill (UCESL) received 18,467 tons of garbage from other local government units in 2019, 6,550 tons more than the year before, but got a smaller share of the collections after the Sangguniang Panlungsod reduced rental rates paid by two private companies operating the facility.
Based on the audit report released May 26, 19 municipalities and one city dumped their trash in the city’s landfill in 2019. They paid a total of P20.58 million but of the said amount P13.48 million went to private companies Rhodenes Enterprises and Urdaneta Waste Management (UWM).
In prior years, the city mayor was the one who entered into contracts with various LGUs who wanted to use the landfill. This changed when the Sangguniang Panlungsod passed SP Resolutions 338 and 339 series of 2016-19.
Those resolutions purportedly terminated the contracts of the other LGUs to dump their waste in the Urdaneta landfill as of April 18, 2018. The said move left Rhodenes and UWM in position to step in and get the LGU contracts
“The audit team, however, noted that LGUs with previous contracts with the City of Urdaneta are still dumping their waste at the UCESL through their contract with UWM and RE (Rhodenes). The city government of Urdaneta could have collected at least P20,582,525.92 instead of the P7,100,000 it collected from the lease of the UCESL,” auditors pointed out.
They also noted that originally Rhodenes was paying a monthly rental of P650,000 but the Sangguniang Panlungsod reduced this to just P350,000. On the other hand, the rent of UWM was increased from P100,000 to P350,000.
The audit team found that between May 2018 to June 30, 2019, UWM only paid P100,000 per month which meant unpaid rent totaling P3.5 million. Rhodenes was also found to have P300,000 in unpaid rent for the last month before the lease cost was reduced.
Blame was assigned to the Urdaneta City Treasurer’s Office for not sending any demand for payment of the correct amount when the obligation becomes due.
Curiously, while the city’s collections were dropping, the COA noted that the volume of garbage hauled and dumped in the Urdaneta City landfill reached 18,466.94 tons, higher by 35.47 percent of 6,550.41 tons compared to 2018.
The audit teams said the city’s contracts with the private companies did not provide for a limitation of the volume of garbage that will be dumped.
“If unregulated, this sheer volume of garbage decreases the lifespan of the landfill and can create environmental concerns in the area,” the COA added.
