Bucking opposition by environment activists, the operator of the San Mateo waste dump is ready to give it a go.

Andy Santiago, president of the San Mateo Sanitary Landfill and Development Corp., said it has given the green light for the 19-hectare facility in Rizal province to do business.

?The San Mateo landfill is technically operational and is soon to accept garbage from its host town and neighboring cities and municipalities,? he told Standard Today.

Santiago said the town would pay no fees to bring in its garbage but Metro Manila?s solid waste could be accommmodated on fixed charges.

He said the local government and Metro Manila Development Authority Chairman Bayani Fernando had yet to hammer out an agreement on terms and conditions particularly on charges.

?This is the answer to the perennial garbage disposal problem not only of San Mateo but also in the nearby localities.?

The new landfill in Barangay Pintong Bukawe began construction in July 2008 and was completed late December and outside the protected zone, said Santiago.

?It is located seven kilometers from the watershed in contrast to what they [environmentalists] are saying. These groups are harping on the wrong facts because we have a certification that we are outside the forest and the watershed.?

Beau Bacongis, Greenpeace convenor, acknowledged that the Natural Resources? Environmental Management Bureau had granted Santiago?s firm a compliance certificate for a site that also stradled the boundary of Maly and Guinayang.

The sanitary-engineered landfill worth an estimated P380-million project awaits a permit from the Laguna Lake Development Authority.

Santiago said the 5-hectare crater is lined up with layers of high density polyethelene membrane that is certified impermeable.

?This ensures safety to the residents of San Mateo that there will be no secretions from the solid wastes that may endanger their health,? he said, noting that about 2,000 of the town?s 184,860 population, based on a 2007 census, will be given jobs as recyclers earning P300 to P500 daily.

?All of the barangays in San Mateo has given their full support, while, we as sanitary advocates, it is our moral conviction to protect the people of San Mateo and the environment, as well. And we will protect them,? Santiago said.

San Mateo Mayor Jose Rafael Diaz is gungho over the town?s economic gains particularly in employment amid the global financial crunch.

?The landfill is beneficial to the town especially as it will generate work to the residents of the Pintong Bukawe,? he said.

As a bonus, according to Santiago, the dump would generate a refuse derived fuel or an alternative energy as a byproduct of the decomposing waste materials. Gigi Mu?oz David and Erika Z. Vizcarra