Concerned citizens urge residents to stop indiscriminate garbage disposal

Environmentalists and concerned citizens yesterday called on Metro Manila residents to exercise proper garbage disposal and stop the indiscriminate dumping of wastes to help prevent floods and the spread of diseases during the rainy season.

Citing the flashfloods that hit the metropolis following heavy rain showers last week, the Ecological Waste Coalition (EcoWaste) warned the residents of more severe flooding because of the irresponsible dumping of garbage in streets, vacant lots, creeks and other waterways that eventually clogs the drainage system.

“Efforts to mitigate floods through drainage improvement and the upgrading of creek borders will be futile if our communities fail to embrace and implement best practices in ecological waste management, excluding the unhealthy littering, dumping and burning of discards,” said Ofelia Panganiban, garbage recycling trainer and member of the steering committee of EcoWaste.

She said government officials have attributed the flooding to indiscriminate dumping of waste that aggravates the problems on flood control and sewerage management in Metro Manila. 

Flooding due to waste dumping causes serious problems to society, including the disruption of people’s activities and damage to properties, Panganiban said.

Environmentalists said that flashfloods spread raw sewage and toxic waste and cause water-borne diseases such as gastroenteritis, cholera, Hepatitis A, typhoid fever and leptospirosis, a disease caused by human contact with the urine of contaminated rats.

Elsie Brandes de Veyra, community health expert of the Concerned Citizens Against Pollution (COCAP), said that floods spread leptospirosis-causing bacteria in slum areas where rats thrive.

“People who wade or swim in floodwaters contaminated by the urine of infected rats and other animals are at risk of getting leptospirosis, especially if they have unhealed breaks in the skin, eyes or with the mucous membranes,” De Veyra said.

The World Health Organization (WHO) defined leptospirosis as a bacterial disease that affects both humans and animals. The early stages of the disease may include high fever, severe headache, muscle pain, chills, redness in the eyes, abdominal pain, jaundice, hemorrhages in skin and mucous membranes (including pulmonary bleeding), vomiting, diarrhea and rash.

To minimize the possibility of toxic spills during floods, EcoWaste urged the public to reduce household consumption of hazardous substances such as paints, oils, chemical cleansing agents, herbicides and insecticides.  The group likewise discouraged the public from storing these hazardous substances under the sink, in the garage or in cabinets located in flood-prone areas.

“There is really a need for continuing value formation on consumption and ecology; and the sincere enforcement of pollution prevention policies and directives as essential steps to effectively combat flooding in our communities,” said Manny Calonzo, coordinator of EcoWaste.