Probe into jails' septic waste flows ordered

Cebu - The Cebu City Health Department has been instructed by the City Council to investigate the report that septage waste flows out of the Cebu City Jail and the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center, posing health hazard to the residents of barangay Kalunasan.

“Maayo ni nga dalion sa paghimo og pakisusi kay basin og makahatag ni og kadaut sa panglawas sa katawhan diha sa Kalunasan,” Councilor Edwin Jagmoc, chairman of the committee on public services of the City Council, said.

It was Jagmoc who raised before the Council the concerns of the members of the Cebu City Rivers Management Council as they fear the flowing of the septage waste from the said jail facility will not be stopped.

Juan Nebria Jr., an employee of barangay Kalunasan, confirmed the report of the Rivers Management Council, saying that “baho g’yod tinuod diri; dugay na man kaayo na nga problema.”

The FREEMAN tried but failed to get in touch with Kalunasan barangay captain Edelito Mabano, but Nebria said the barangay captain had already brought up the issue to the concerned jail authorities.

“Ambot, kon adtoon na gani ni Captain Mabano ang tagdumala sa duha ka prisohan, mahunong man. Pero iniglabay na sab sa mga adlaw, mobalik na sab,” Nebria said.

“Gikuyawan g’yod mi nga kun dugay ni nga matagad nga problema, makadaot ni sa among tinubdan sa tubig,” a resident said.

The FREEMAN learned that because the Metro Cebu Water District was not able to provide water connections for the residents of Kalunasan, the barangay officials opted to make their own deep well.

Some other private entities also helped the residents acquire water connections through their wells for minimal fees. — Rene U. Borromeo/MEEV (THE FREEMAN)