Rama urged: Don't buy garbage trucks

CEBU, Philippines - A group of environmentalists in Cebu has asked Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama to refrain from buying garbage trucks to teach the barangays as well as compel them to manage their own wastes.

Lawyer Gloria Estenzo-Ramos, executive director of the Philippine Earth Justice Center, said that instead of buying garbage trucks that has made the people too dependent on the government, Rama may instead divert the funds to health care and education.

PEJC is promoting solid waste management at the community level as they have identified the barangays to be the major contributors of garbage.

In fact, Ramos said that they have mobilized student volunteers to conduct a study on the major contributors of garbage in Cebu and they have ranked them according to the volume of garbage they generate daily.

The top 10 garbage generators will be presented by the student volunteers tomorrow to Rama. They will seek the mayor’s help how to reduce the garbage in these barangays. Some of these barangays are San Nicolas, Capitol Site, Guadalupe, Luz, Ermita and Mambaling.

Ramos explained that these barangays have generated a large volume of garbage due to the big companies and establishments in their area.

Councilor Nida Cabrera said that they have started giving financial aid to selected barangays to be able to put up their own Material Recovery Facilities for effective solid waste management in the barangay.

The establishment of MRFs will reduce the city’s garbage by more than 50 percent because as soon as the barangays start recycling, the city government will have to collect only the residual waste. If this happens, the city will not have to find a site for the second landfill that has similar size with the existing landfill in Inayawan.

Meanwhile, a fruit supplier was caught by the team of Cabrera dumping tons of garbage in the mountain barangay. She did not name the supplier but it will be penalized based on the provisions of the Republic Act 9003 or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act. — (FREEMAN)