NGO disseminates info on waste law

While the local government is concentrating on the implementation on the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act, a non-government organization is disseminating information.

The Progressive Alliance for Coastal Initiatives or PROACTIVE yesterday presented at the ground floor of the Ayala Center Cebu an exhibit entitled "Basura, Asa Ka?"

The weeklong activity is aimed to disseminate information on where improperly disposed refuse go, said PROACTIVE representative Alfonso Amores, a plastic surgeon by profession.

The principal target of the group, according to Amores, is to let people know that most of the garbage they throw to the canals, creeks, and rivers go to the shorelines of Mactan and Olango. The exhibits show pictures of these shorelines, which are already littered with garbages of which, Amores said, could have come from the neighboring cities of Cebu and Mandaue.

"We want them informed and it's up to them to find the solution," Amores said.

"Unlike the national debt, we can't repudiate it," Amores said quoting the exhibit's theme.

He said the problem that is besetting the shorelines of Mactan and Olango, which is endangering the marine life of Gilutongan Channel, has been there for a while but the move to start solving it is not very late yet. Amores also said that because of these wastes the commercial beach resorts in the nearby areas are also suffering.

Hence the exhibit which does not only make Cebuanos aware of their surroundings but also make them become part of the solution. PROACTIVE is accepting volunteers to help them. Amores said his group would also be glad to receive invitations to hold workshops in schools and universities about the issue. This is also public information dissemination, he said.

PROACTIVE which is composed of St. Alfonsus Catholic School class '62 is also supported by Cebu Mountaineering Alliance, Cebu Women's Network, Amores Charities, Inc., CREAMS, among other NGO's. - Liv G. Campo