Affected by closure of landfill, hiring of scavengers pushed

CEBU, Philippines - With the closure of Inayawan Sanitary Landfill starting tomorrow, the Solid Waste Management Board has recommended before the Office of the Mayor to have the affected scavengers trained and hired by business establishments in Cebu City.

In his two-page concept paper, SWMB chairman Jade Ponce said about 300 waste pickers will be displaced once the city government completely closes the facility starting tomorrow.

Ponce said there is a need to inspire these people to rise above and free themselves from the shackles of perpetual dependence on other people’s garbage.

At least 27,000 business establishments operating in the city, Ponce said, are obligated to comply with the “no segregation, no collection” policy. Since there are 300 waste pickers, the ratio for every establishment would be 1 is to 30, he said.

“The 300 waste pickers already have the necessary skill sets and first-hand knowledge in identifying recyclable or reusable waste. Employees of business establishment required to segregate have no such knowledge or whatever knowledge they may have could not readily compare with the waste pickers own expertise borne out of years of actual experience,” Ponce said.

He said his proposal will also help improve the health and well-being of the scavengers, saying that working in the premises of a business establishment is way better than working under “squalid and inhumane” conditions at the landfill.

“It minimizes the volume of the garbage that the government has to collect and thus lessening also the amount it pays as tipping fees,” he added.

Ponce said the concept needs further study such as organizing waste-pickers into groups with clusters to which business establishment they will operate in.

He said values formation and practical training module to educate and train the waste pickers may also be needed to transform them into trustworthy individuals that businesses will allow entry in their premises.

Mayor Michael Rama is pushing for a P3.5-billion mixed-use development project at the landfill as proposed by a Korean company. — (FREEMAN)