CESET monitors dumping of unsegregated waste in rivers

CEBU, Philippines - The Cebu City Environmental Sanitation Enforcement Team says it started monitoring the rivers and creeks to prevent people from dumping their unsegregated garbage there since the barangays and the Department of Public Services are not collecting it.

The Mahiga River in Mabolo and the Guadalupe River are their priority since these rivers traverse in heavily populated areas.

Councilor Nida Cabrera said they received reports of dumping in the river by some people who are lazy enough to segregate their garbage. Worse, some burn their wastes, which is in violation of the Clean Air Act.

“Nitaas gyud ang report sa mga magdaob sa ilang basura karon. Ato nang gimonitor karon, ato gyud silang dakpon,” Cabrera said. CESET team has in fact caught yesterday one household burning their waste in Barangay Tinago.

Samuel Maribojoc, CESET Supervisor, said that they have assigned five people to monitor the rivers and creeks.

“Nabalaka man gud ta na basin adto nila nuon ilabay sa mga tawo ang ilang basura. Istrikto na atong DPS, di na man gyud nila kuhaon basta wala ma-segregate,” Maribojoc said.

As of yesterday, there are already 351 barangays and households that have been issued with a citation ticket by CESET personnel and Barangay Environmental Officer.

Those issued with citation tickets must pay a fine of P500.00 within seven days, otherwise the city may sue them in court for violating City Ordinance 1361 and 2031 and the Solid Waste Management Act.

Violators will be given up to a month grace period to pay the fine since the city has just started with its implementation last April 1.

 “We have identified those barangays which have recurring violation from Day 1 to Day 10 and these are the barangays where we went back to conduct another information campaign. Ang uban wala gyud idea unsa nang malata or di malata so we will continue and strengthen our information campaign,” Cabrera said.

 Meanwhile, in support to Cebu City’s strict implementation of waste segregation, offices at the Provincial Capitol are also implementing the same starting today.

Provincial Administrator Eduardo Habin issued yesterday a memorandum implementing the “No Segregation, No Collection” Policy for garbage disposal at the Capitol Building and other provincial offices within Cebu City.

Garbage receptacles in each office are labeled as “Malata” (biodegradable waste), “Magamit Pa” (recyclable/reusable waste), and “Dili Malata” (biodegradable waste).

Habin instructed that garbage receptacles intended for biodegradable waste must have plastic lining to prevent dripping of left-over foods and other wet rubbish.

Garbage collection is between 3:00 to 5:00 in the afternoon daily.

“Everybody is advised to refrain from leaving the trash can in the hallway if the same is not collected during the day,” Habin said.

All janitorial services personnel are also instructed to see to it that proper segregation is practiced by the respective offices prior to garbage collection and to strictly implement the policy. – (FREEMAN)