After one week, MMDA to push waste segregation

Metropolitan Manila Development Authority Chairman Benjamin Abalos, Sr. announced yesterday a clean up of garbage on the streets of the metropolis for one week.

However, after the clean up week, Abalos said that he would force the issue on the segregation of waste using Republic Act 9003 or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act as his basis.

Abalos disclosed that non-segregated garbage would not be collected anymore after the one week clean up period. "I have warned the collectors to stop collecting unsegregated garbage," Abalos said.

Basedon R.A. 9003, the garbage contractors that collect non-segregated or unsorted waste would be fined P1,000 to P3,000 and suffer imprisonment of up to 15 days.

The penalty is even heavier if the contractor mixes any segregated waste with the unsorted garbage in his trucks or at the disposal areas.

A fine of P500,000 plus five to 10 percent of the annual income of the contractors is imposed on violators for mixing waste.

Abalos admitted that some of the contractors have actually stopped hauling garbage because of the fines under R.A. 9003.

Even though the Implementing Rules and Regulations of R.A. 9003 are not yet completed, both the MMDA and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources have agreed that the penalties could already be imposed.

The DENR, through its Environmental Management Bureau, has been tasked to formulate the IRR.

Abalos stressed that the mayors should now step in to ensure that garbage at the household level is already sorted before it is collected.

He also appealed to the mayors to stop waiting for a disposal site such as a sanitary landfill to come up.

Although the law places the responsibility of ensuring segregation in the hands of barangay officials, Abalos argued that the mayors should also take an active role as the chief executives of the local government units.

"I’m appealing to all the local government officials to be guided by R.A. 9003. We should follow the parameters of the law. I know it’s hard but we have to follow it," Abalos said. – Marvin Sy