Payatas - From Smoky Mountain to Green Hills

The big city dump and landfill site of Payatas is better known as The Smoky Mountain. This huge pile of rubbish has been accumulated over the last 35 years - and as Manila has grown, it's waste has piled up to heights topping 50 meters.

The Barangay of Payatas (local council) and the dump site management have enbarked on a vast transformation project to turn the site back to green, well managed land and are planning to close the site in 2008. Much has already been done, and more than half the mountains have been reshaped to gentler slopes, covered with two feet of thick clay soil and planted with hardy grass that grows roots five meters deep into the soil, thus tying it down. Explosive methane gassed are pumped through an extensive network of pipes to a new power plant that is estimated to generate 1MW of electricity - enough to power a thousand families!

Hat's off to the management and everyone involved in the project.