Friday, April 04, 2008 Waste board wants to collect fines from violators By Jane Cadalig
SOLID waste board wants violators to be issued tickets, to instill discipline among La Trinidad residents and to make the implementation of solid waste management in Benguet successful.
The town's Solid Waste Management Board has asked the La Trinidad Municipal Council to authorize the issuance of tickets that will be issued to those who do not comply with the regulation.
In a resolution, the board said there is a need for the legislative body to authorize the issuance of violation tickets to establishments or individuals who do not follow the town's solid waste management program, to make the collection of penalties legal.
The issuance of violation/citation tickets to violators was first proposed to make the implementation of the waste management program effective. It aims to instill discipline among the constituents.
But before these tickets are issued, the board said there is a need for the Municipal Council to sanction the act.
The tickets will serve as legal notice to the violator and could be used as evidence when cases prosper in court.
"Violation or citation tickets shall provide the opportunity to the violator to either pay the administrative fine or question (this) in court," the resolution said.
"Due to the mounting problem as regards the implementation of the solid waste management program, there is now seen an urgency and immediacy to the enactment of a legislative (measure) to address the issue," it added.
La Trinidad has already established its sanitary landfill -- the first town in the region to do so -- but could not maximize its use due to the low compliance of the town's households and business establishment to the waste segregation program, which is aimed at reducing the volume of wastes delivered to the facility.
Waste segregation has become mandatory for every household in the implementation of the country's Ecological Solid Waste Management Act, which aims to reduce the volume of garbage delivered to the dumpsites.
