Some barangays admit leniency in new waste policy

CEBU, Philippines - Five days since the Cebu City government implemented the “No segregation, No collection” policy, some barangay officials admitted they have been lenient towards violators considering the abruptness of the implementation of the new policy.

Barangays Lahug, Labangon and Mambaling let their employees do the segregation of the unsegregated garbage left by their respective constituents on the roadside.

However, starting today the barangay officials said they will start apprehending those who will be caught violating the new policy. The barangays will no longer collect unsegregated wastes unlike in the past five days.

For the past five days even if the new policy was already in effect, some barangays admitted they still collect the mixed garbage, then dumped it somewhere to be segregated by the barangay employees before going to the Material Recovery Facility in Inayawan.

In Labangon, Barangay Garbage Collection Operations Chief Merinida Hermoso said they have turned a space in front of their barangay as temporary dumpsite where garbage segregation is being done.

“Kami na lang gyud nangunay ani mam for three days na kay grabe gyud kagahi sa ulo sa mga tawo. Kutob na lang ni karon, ugma (today) manakop na gyud mi,” she said.

They spent the last five days educating the people to segregate their garbage and only bring outside the waste due for collection that day. Every Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays, garbage collectors must only collect biodegradable wastes while the rest of the days of the week are for the non-biodegradable wastes.

Hermoso alleged that most of the garbage left on the road of Labangon came from residents from other barangays which bring their garbage in Labangon in the wee hours of the night when nobody is watching.

Hermoso said that outsiders dump their garbage near the cemetery. The other night, they caught a resident of Sawang Calero dumping its garbage in Labangon.

She said that Labangon Captain Victor Buendia has ordered the tanods to be stricter in their monitoring especially during the night.

In Lahug, officials complained that they are having problems with the attitude of the people who have been informed, yet chose to continue to violate the law.

Lahug barangay secretary Peter Cawayan said that they did not fall short in their efforts to inform and educate the constituents because a month before the closure of the landfill, they have started informing the residents about the policy. Since April 1, they have been conducting pulong-pulongs in every sitio and campaigning door to door during the day.

Cawayan said that they initiated the segregation for the garbage left unsegregated along the road to keep Lahug clean.

Starting today, their tanods will start apprehending violators and eventually will issue citation tickets to those who will be caught. Cawayan said that they are waiting for the Cebu City Environmental Sanitation and Enforcement Team for a formal memorandum deputizing the tanods and allowing them to issue tickets.

The fine for violating City Ordinance 2031 ranges from P500 to P5,000 and an imprisonment of up to six months.

Councilor Nida Cabrera appealed to all barangays to be stricter in their implementation because the efforts should come from them first as part of their responsibility.

Meanwhile, the affected scavengers of the closure of the Landfill in Inayawan will receive assistance from the city government to help in their everyday survival in the meantime that the city is looking for ways on how to address their problem.

Over 600 scavengers complained earlier of loss of livelihood when the city government close the landfill for dumping and implemented the “No segregation, No collection” policy starting April 1.

Since then, scavengers complained that they are not earning less than P100 a day.

Cabrera said that she is set to discuss with the council the details of the assistance they want to extend to the scavengers.

She said that they are to decide yet what form of aid the city may extend, either in cash or goods.

Cabrera said that they could not just abandon them because they are the ones directly affected by the closure of the landfill. The assistance will be for their temporary survival only because they need to find alternative jobs.

Cabrera said that she will be conducting trainings on alternative livelihood for them, for instance, on how to create blocks from plastics.

Some 20 scavengers have been hired by the city to initially man the operation at the landfill. They will receive monthly salary from the city government. –(FREEMAN)