The Urban Poor.
Pier 18.

Pier 18 is not, as stated in different blogs and websites, a dumping site or the replacement of the now infamous Smokey Mountain. It is a transit point for Manila’s garbage going to a landfill located in Navotas.
Ecologists and the zero-waste movement say that using Pier 18 as a garbage transfer station already violates the law against illegal dumps along with the Supreme Court order to clean and save Manila Bay.
Tons of mixed waste from Manila are being brought to Pier 18, hauled into barges and dumped at the landfill located within the foreshore area of Barangay Tanza, Navotas. The station has continued to release toxic leachate to Manila Bay according to Ecowaste director Rei Pancligan.
During the transfer of the garbage into the barges a lot of scavengers rummage through the garbage. This is a very dangerous activity because the scavengers are sometimes crushed alive by the bulldozers.
On January 2010 the Environmental Managment Bureau cleared Pier 18 and said the facility was legal and posed no risk of marine pollution.
Please note that you are not welcome to take pictures of Pier 18.
Source: Rio N. Araja – Manila Standard Today.

