From problems to solutions

“FROM A collection of problems to a community of solutions” is how Metropolitan Manila Development Authority Chair Francis Tolentino describes his “dream” for the metropolis over which he presides, or, rather, coordinates among a scattering of local government officials, national politicians and a restless populace.

Well, the MMDA certainly has more than its share of problems—from garbage to traffic, from crime to congestion, from informal settlers to demanding subdivision dwellers.

One need only recall the floods and traffic jams that take place during days of typhoons or just heavy rains, and the just-as-dismaying aftermath—from garbage-strewn Manila Bay to the plight of evacuees—to realize just how many problems the MMDA, and its chair, has to confront day in and day out.

But as Jericho Go, an official of Megaworld, said at yesterday’s Bulong Pulungan sa Sofitel, to him and other commuters on C-5, Tolentino is a hero: “Pogi araw-araw (good-looking every day),” as he put it.

Go was referring to the traffic management scheme on C-5, which used to be clogged by trucks avoiding Edsa. In those days, his morning commute from his place in Eastwood in Quezon City to Bonifacio Global City, about 12 kilometers away, required a travel time of one-and-a-half hours. But today, said Go, thanks to the closure of U-turn slots, the installation of traffic lights, and most of all, the enforcement of a single lane for trucks, his commute time has been cut to a third—about 30 minutes of smooth driving.

Clearly flustered by the “near canonization,” as he termed it, apparently because he’s more used to brickbats and denunciations, Tolentino used the high praise to call for “more private-sector participation” in the effort to solve Metro Manila’s huge collection of problems.

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LATELY, Tolentino has landed once more in headlines for his surprising suggestion to turn to incineration as a lasting solution to Metro Manila’s garbage woes.

Now, incineration has long been a villain in the eyes of environmentalists, who decry the pollution created by the burning of garbage and the resulting emission of not just smoke but also toxic and noxious gases produced by the garbage.

But Tolentino says the bias against incineration stems from an “old-fashioned” understanding of the term. Technology has since been developed that would not only solve the increasing amounts of garbage generated by a metropolis (each Metro Manilan, says Tolentino, produces 1.5 kilos of garbage a day), but also harness this garbage to produce energy.

What he means by “incineration” these days, says Tolentino, is really a “waste-to-energy” scheme, or “energy recovery,” using the burning of garbage to produce steam which would in turn run turbines to generate electricity.

To better explain his plan, Tolentino showed a video on the “waste-to-energy” program of Sweden, which, despite its use of garbage incineration, currently ranks second in the world in compliance with global environmental protocols.

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IN SWEDEN, it was revealed, there is hardly any garbage in streets or landfills, with half of the garbage recycled and the other half destined for incineration in any of the 32 existing plants.

An official at one of the plants explains that it takes three tons of waste material to generate the equivalent of one ton of energy from fuel.

At present, the “waste-to-energy” plants in Sweden are experiencing what they call “over-capacity,” meaning, they can generate more energy than their present garbage load would allow. Thus, Sweden “imports” garbage from Norway, the United Kingdom, Ireland and Italy for use in its plants. (Presumably, such countries even pay Sweden for taking their waste material off their hands.)

But for such a scenario to take place in the Philippines, says Tolentino, we would need not just to build the plants (Metro Manila would need four such plants to deal with the garbage it generates) but also to ensure that “all incineration is done in the proper manner.”

Should the MMDA be given the authority to go ahead with its “Swedish-style” incinerators, Tolentino says he is looking at building the first plant in a four-hectare property at a cost of P7 billion.

Not only would the scheme result in lower electricity costs, it would also mean an end to unsightly and unsanitary landfills. It would also hopefully eliminate garbage in the streets and waterways, says Tolentino. He says “hopefully” because, he reminds everyone, “some 25-30 percent of waste material is not collected at all,” with families resorting to dumping their garbage in empty lots, rivers and streams (and Manila Bay), and even in storm drains.

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THE “collection of problems” that hounds Metro Manila is not about to go away anytime soon. Tolentino cites worldwide studies saying that by 2015 or next year, half of the world’s population will be living in cities.

Government, he says, can only manage the impending crisis, since urban development and income opportunities serve as a “magnet” for migrants from rural areas. What government—along with the private sector—can do, he says, is to “spread out.” That is, to bring the benefits of development—and the resulting employment and opportunities—to areas beyond city limits.

Tolentino cites a government program in Korea which built “townships” in far-flung areas, establishing housing areas as well as factories and commercial outlets to decongest their larger cities.

To a certain extent, this is already being done here, although the private real estate sector is currently taking the lead. Perhaps that is what Tolentino means by a “community of solutions.”