The City Environment and Natural Resources Office (CENRO), in partnership with the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), held a Solid Waste Management Summit with officials from all 182 barangays on Tuesday at the World Palace, urging barangay governments to segregate their trash as mandated by the Ecological Solid Waste Management Ordinance of 2009.
The summit, according to CENRO head Engr. Marivic Reyes, focused on compelling barangay leaders to implement segregation schemes in their communities while reminding them of the laws that mandate segregation, composting, and the creation of a Barangay Solid Waste Committee.
“Ang tumong gyud atong ani na summit is para ma-renew ang ilang pledge of commitment with regards to Solid Waste Management. So, by this time, ang amoa gyu’ng goal is ma-enforce gyud ang waste segregation or ang segregated na collection (The purpose of this summit is to renew their pledge of commitment with regards to Solid Waste Management. So, by this time, our true goal is to really enforce waste segregation or segregated collection),” Reyes said.
“Among man gud sa mga practices of Solid Waste, ang segregation lang gyud ang wala na-fully enforced (Among all the practices in Solid Waste Management, only segregation remains not fully enforced)” she added.
Davao City generates around 700 metric tonnes of trash per day, a significant fraction of this is made up of reusable materials.
To fully segregate solid waste, barangays can opt to establish either a Material Recovery Facility (MRF) or a Material Recovery System (MRS). The former, said Reyes, requires a structure wherein all solid waste are sorted while the latter refers to the placement of trash bins in key areas.
Of the 182 barangays in the city, Reyes said only 40 has a segregation facility or MRF while the rest rely on MRS to manage their solid waste.
Each barangay has the budget to establish their own MRF or MRS. The CENRO is also willing to help barangays with existing MRF or MRS to become fully-functional.
Meanwhile, Reyes said that penalties for those who do not segregate will now be more stringently imposed. Those who commit the offence of littering, open camping, and non-segregation can be fined ranging from P500, P1,000 and P5,000. CIO
