Additional pay for garbage workers approved

CEBU, Philippines - The City Council has approved the P10.2 million budget that would compensate for the amount needed to fully pay the salary of garbage personnel from barangays implementing the solid waste management program.

There are 377 garbage personnel servicing 52 barangays, 79 of whom are truck drivers while 258 are loaders. Not all, however, are receiving a P5,000 salary, by far.

With the budget in place, all garbage personnel will be receiving equal salary this year. The additional honoraria amounts to P10,215,348, the budget for which will be taken from the Barangay Aid Account.

Following the approval of the budget, Councilor Edwin Jagmoc, the proponent of the resolution, ordered the strict monitoring of attendance of the garbage personnel, as well as the performance of the barangays implementing the solid waste management program.

The garbage personnel are required to work eight hours a day, except those working in barangays Binaliw, Zapatera and San Jose who are required to work only four hours a day.

The city produces up to 500 tons of garbage daily, most of which are dumped at the sanitary landfill in barangay Inayawan.

The city resolved to strengthen implementation of the solid waste management program following the incident last April when fire erupted at the landfill due to chemical reactions.

The city is currently implementing a waste segregation ordinance that prohibits the disposal of wastes that were not segregated either as biodegradable or non-biodegradable.

Under the ordinance, mixing of hazardous wastes with regular garbage is prohibited, as well as disposal outside or beyond the scheduled day of collection.

The city government is also eyeing to build composting facilities in strategic areas to minimize the garbage dumped at Inayawan where methane gas and smoke continue to affect residents of the surrounding communities.

Recently, the council placed Inayawan under state of “imminent danger” due to the continuous emission of methane gas and smoke. — Jessica Ann R. Pareja/JMO (THE FREEMAN)