During the recent Metro Manila Mayor’s Summit on the Pasig River Rehabilitation Program, the MMDA pointed out that illegal dumping remains the biggest problem of the program.
With a significant number of squatters still living along the riverbanks of the Pasig River, indiscriminate dumping of garbage in the river continues.
The MMDA attributed the problem to an inadequate household waste collection system, a widespread lack of discipline and awareness among riverside communities, poor access to interior areas and lack of coordination among the garbage contractors in the schedule of collections.
As part of the effort to eliminate the dumping of garbage in the Pasig River, the MMDA has undertaken a project to develop an ecological solid waste management system involving the barangays along the river.
The project involves the establishment of efficient sorting and recycling of waste at the source.
Under Republic Act 9003 or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act, the segregation and collection and waste falls under the jurisdiction of the barangays.
The help of NGO’s was also sought to develop the system because of their extensive exposure in depressed communities. – Marvin Sy