Search on for cleanest, greenest Navotas barangay

A search will soon be launched for the cleanest and greenest barangay in Navotas, a contest that includes barangay halls, schools, day-care centers, police precincts and other important areas to intensify the municipal government’s campaign on ecological waste segregation and recycling.

Mayor Toby Tiangco said the project is a major component of Republic Act 9003, or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000.

Dubbed as Barangay Linis Ganda, Galing Pook-Gawad Angat Navotas Award, the project will be officially launched next month and will coincide with the International Earth Month Celebration.

Tiangco said the search aims to promote awareness, cleanliness and the habit of segregating waste among participating sectors to ensure the town residents’ health and safety.

"It is high time that everyone do their share in maintaining cleanliness to minimize the volume of garbage collected daily to promote a safe and clean environment," Tiangco said.

He explained that a search committee is composed of representatives from different sectors, headed by the Barangay Operation Center (BOC) and the Environmental Sanitation Office (ESO). The judges for the aid event, tasked to conduct on site inspection and evaluation, would come from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) and the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA).

A P100,000 cash prize and a plaque of recognition await the champion to be awarded on Jan. 16, 2007.

Navotas was adjudged National Capital Region’s cleanest and greenest municipality in 2001, 2003 and 2004. – Pete Laude