Councilor Temujin “Tek” Ocampo bared on Tuesday that the city government of Davao is engaging with the Japanese government through Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) for the implementation of the stalled Waste-to-Energy (WTE) project.
Ocampo, chair of the Committee on Environment and Natural Resources of the City Council of Davao, said the implementation could be done under the Build Operate Transfer (BOT) or Public Private Partnership (PPP).
“With regards to WTE, nag-engage ta karon sa Japanese government through JICA ug naay possibility na tabangan ta nila. Buot pasabot muagi na siya ug Build Operate Transfer (BOT) or Private Public Partnership (PPP),” Ocampo said during Aprubado sa Konseho media forum.
Ocampo explained that under the partnership, the Japanese government will finance the construction of the project, while the city government of Davao committed to the permitting and the land acquisition.
The city government has already purchased a 10-hectare lot for the project located in Barangay Biao Eskwela, Tugbok District.
“It’s a go but not yet 100% kay magconduct pa ug another feasibility study ang Japanese govenrment. Walay gastuhon ang city government unlike atong previous nga naay counterpart ang city ug naay counterpart ang national government pero walay gihatag bisan walay rason,” Ocampo said.
In March 2022, former city mayor and now Vice President Sara Duterte stated that the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has agreed to allocate P740 million for the P3.5 billion government counterpart fund needed to supplement the P2-billion grant provided by JICA.
As to the other interested parties in financing the WTE project, Ocampo said the city is prioritizing the Japanese government at the moment.
“Until muingon ang Japanese government surrender nami pangita mo ug lain, dinha nata mangita ug lain. Pero as long as interesado pa sila mutabang nato, magpabilin ang atong commitment through the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with JICA,” he said.
Under the original design, the WTE has a capacity of about 600 metric tons of waste and produces up to 12 megawatts of energy.
Since 2016, the landfill has surpassed its full capacity, accumulating 900,000 tons against the intended 700,000 to 800,000 tons.
“Ang City Council interesado pa nga ipadayon ang WTE kay puno na ang dumpsite and if we will continue to use that bisan naa tay bag-ong ginadevelop mapuno gyud na siya,” Ocampo said.
In January 2023, the WTE plan was endorsed by the Department of Energy and DENR and was awaiting the green light from the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA).
In May last year, Ocampo bared that the WTE project was put on hold by DENR.
“Ang atong panawagan para sa WTE in the resolution that I filed years back to ask for the national government to help us out, wala na gyud to. It was put on hold without any reason at all,” he said.
