Enforcement of province-wide solid waste mgt. system sealed

CEBU, Philippines - Governor Gwendolyn Garcia yesterday entered into a Memorandum of Agreement with 51 mayors of different towns and cities in the province and heads of the Association of Barangay Councils for a joint implementation of a solid waste management system. 

Garcia said the provincial government will support the local government units, especially the barangays, by giving capital assistance for programs on garbage reduction and segregation.

However, clear cut guidelines on specific recyclable materials that can be sold still have to be defined. 

Dubbed as Disposal of Garbage and Waste Enforcement for Nature (D’GWEN) and Vermiculture Composting Programs, the initiative is a collaboration for a systematic garbage recycling and composting programs. 

Capitol will provide P15,000 to each barangay.

Under the agreement, the local government unit will purchase recycled materials from the barangays. The province, in turn, will purchase recycled materials from the municipalities.

Pursuant to Republic Act 9003 or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo gave out P100 million worth of financial assistance to the province as “seed money” for the 1,093 barangays in Cebu. 

Each barangay and town will have their own account with the Development Bank of the Philippines and will be issued individual ledgers. DBP will help monitor the accounts. Revenues from the program are not allowed to be used for at least a year.

To minimize paper work, each barangay will open an account at DBP where the P15, 000 will be credited. Currently, 700 to 800 barangays have already opened their accounts at DBP. 

“So, it saves time than checking more than a thousand checks. It is also efficient, Garcia said. She added that implementation of the program will be strictly monitored with an on-site monitoring team to visit towns and barangays. 

Since recyclable materials need to be transported at designated pick-up points, Jojo Solante, ABC head of Tudela, said island barangays should be allowed to have revenue of more than P2/ kilo, taking transportation cost into consideration.

For proper information dissemination, posters containing pictures and labels of the accepted recyclable materials should be displayed at the respective barangay halls in order to guide the residents and all barangay leaders.  

Because of the load of waste from the barangays, Garcia advised town mayors to make use of a platform scale while a bathroom scale, which can carry a load from 135 to 155 kilos, can be shouldered by the barangay.

Garcia said a price advisory will be provided by the province depending on the kind of recyclable material. Materials like glass, metal or aluminum will be deposited in recovery facilities that would be established in each barangay.

All local government units from the barangay to the province will earn P2 per kilo of recyclable materials.

After a year, the program will be assessed and a new MOA will be signed. — Garry B. Lao/JMO (THE FREEMAN)