DPWH deploys dredgers to contain Navotas fire

The Philippines Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) is set to deploy heavy equipment at the Navotas Sanitary Landfill to help extinguish the fire, which has affected nearby communities since last week.

DPWH Secretary, Vince Dizon, said that dredgers, backhoes and bulldozers will be deployed at the site in Barangay Tanza 2, Navotas City, to extinguish the blaze completely.

“So by Saturday, heavy equipment will be able to enter the area,” Dizon said during his visit to the dumpsite on Thursday. “We have to put soil on top (of the burning trash) otherwise it will continue to burn.”

According to Dizon, DPWH plans to borrow dredgers from the private sector to increase the number of equipment used in the operation.

A massive fire broke out at the landfill facility on April 10, affecting many communities in the area, as well as Malabon, and Obando in Bulacan.