Mayor Manalang (center) shows the MOA signed with MGEI President Mackay (right) and TCC’s Manalansan. Joining them are Domingo Cordova and Godofredo Sabado of the city government and MGEI Vice President Matt Evans and Architect Tacing Bernal Jr. , Grace Manalansan and Barbara Catapang of Tokwing. Photo by Joey Pavia
TARLAC CITY – Mayor Gelacio Manalang on Wednesday described “as reliable and safe” a 30-year-old German waste technology to address the garbage problem hounding mainland Luzon’s biggest city in terms of land area.
Manalang issued the statements after signing a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with the Mackay Green Energy Inc. (MGEI), a Makati City- based firm which earlier signed the same agreement with nearby Pampanga province. Its technology uses indirectly gas turbines which turn unsegregated waste into energy.
Manalang and MGEI chairman James Ronaldson Mackay signed the MOA at the city hall in the presence of other local officials and the Pampanga-based Tokwing Construction Corp. (TCC). TCC will develop the five-hectare area in Barangay Armenia, which is about seven kilometers away from the city proper.
“What I want about the project is that there is no combustion in their technology that could harm the environment. It will also solve the long-time problem of waste in our big city,” said Manalang. This first-class city is composed of 76 barangays whose land area is about 42,000 square kilometers.
For his part, Mackay said their advanced and proven technology treats solid waste and converts it into refuse-derived fuel.
Manalang said the MOA will be passed to the Tarlac provincial board for ratification.
The two-term mayor said the city with at least 370,000 residents produces about 90 tons of garbage per day.
In the MOA, a minimum of 150 metric tons of garbage is required daily to produce at least five megawatts of saleable electricity.
Manalang said the city spends at least P10 million annually for waste management. He added that their annual expenses will be reduced by about 30 percent.
Manalang said that in the MOA, the city will be given a share in the sale of electricity.
“We save and then the city also earns,” said Manalang.
For his part, Mackay said their technology “is safe and is widely used in Germany, Australia and Turkey, to name a few.”
The TCC led by its president, Reynaldo Manalansan, will develop the five-hectare area in Barangay Armenia, which is about seven kilometers away from the city proper. In the same MOA, the city is required to provide the area for the MGEI facility which can handle as much as 500 tons of waste per day.
Manalang said they are disposing their waste at the landfill in Capas town, some 45 kilometers from the city. He added that the set-up “is far and too costly.”
