Next year Talisay to strictly enforce garbage collection policy

CEBU, Philippines - The Talisay City government is set to impose a “no segregation, no collection” policy at the start of next year, Edwin Nierves, chief of the city’s Solid Waste Management office, said.

Nierves said the measure is designed to make people appreciate the proper way of segregating waste from biodegradable to non-biodegradable at the household level.

He said there’s a suspicion that the uncollected waste in most barangays is the cause of clogging of open canals.

The city has an existing law on proper disposal of garbage but this has not been fully enforced and it will strictly implement it next year.

Presently, the city collects at least 30 tons of waste everyday from its 22 barangays.

The bulk is expected to rise by about 20 percent this Christmas and New Year.

The city has 44 garbage collectors, all of whom are temporary or job order (J.O.) workers hired on a 15-day or 30-day contract, and divided into two shifts.

Nierves said he has requested city hall to retain the workers during the holidays.

The contracts of 1,000 job order workers automatically end on December 31 of every year. Most of them will still get their contracts renewed at the start of the year. – (FREEMAN)