Saturday, August 13, 2005
Inayawan scavengers get paid to sort wastes
Scavengers at the landfill in Inayawan, Cebu City are now earning more with the implementation of the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000.
They are being paid for sorting out biodegradable materials, instead of looking from mountains of recyclable trash and other scraps they can sell to junkshops.
The Cebu City Government pays P150 per sack, which is better than their P200-a-day income from scavenging for reusable items.
Cebu City Councilor Nestor Archival, chairman of the committee on parks and playground, wildlife, ecology, and environmental management, said the scheme serves as incentive for scavengers to help the City sort out trash.
Willing to help
The City implemented Republic Act 9003 or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000, and City Ordinances 2031 and 1361 since July 1, and already fined several people.
The scavengers were more than willing to help, said Archival.
He noted a great reduction in recyclable materials that reach the landfill after the City implemented the laws.
City Ordinance 2031 mandates people to segregate wastes according to “biodegradable, non-biodegradable, reusable or recyclable, hazardous, and bulky wastes and white goods.”
Prohibitions
It prohibits, among others, mixing of these and the disposal beyond the scheduled time and day.
City Ordinance 1361, on the other hand, prohibits spitting, urinating and defecating in public places; sticking posters, handbills and placing graffiti on fences or walls of buildings.
The City has come up with collection schedules, which could be verified with the Cebu Environmental Sanitation and Enforcement Team (Ceset) office. The office can be reached through telephone numbers 253-2184 and 255-8872 or in the barangay halls.
Trucks
Archival admitted that at least two trucks, one in the north district and another in the south district, still dump at the landfill garbage that were not segregated.
These were left in the streets unsorted by residents.
“We still need to get them, otherwise, it would smell,” he said.
But the City already mobilized 1,100 persons to apprehend those who throw trash indiscriminately and those who do not segregate them.
Aside from waste segregation, the City also launched composting efforts so that non-biodegradable and recyclables are the only ones that reach the landfill.
Of the 400,000 kilos of garbage taken to the landfill each day, an estimated 240,000 kilos are biodegradable.
Archival hopes to reduce the biodegradable garbage by 60 percent by end of this year. (RHM)
(August 13, 2005 issue)
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