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Tuesday, May 16, 2006
Editorial: Garbage segregation
A great campaign among citizens in the same magnitude of the ban on smoking inside establishments and public buildings is unfolding in Davao City. It is the drive for households and business firms to segregate their solid wastes before these will be picked up by garbage collectors.
The drive is now in the information phase. The Duterte administration is distributing half a million copies of waste disposal guidelines for taxpayers to follow strictly.
City Environment and Natural Resources Office (Cenro) under its relatively new chief, Ann Silvosa, has been tasked by Mayor Rodrigo Duterte to be the lead agency in implementing the "No Segregation, No Collection" policy, which will be the City Government's permanent tack beginning May 29.
All well-meaning citizens of Davao City welcome this City Government initiative, which is mandated by law. However, enforcing the law will be no walk in the park considering the utter lack of discipline among many citizens of this city as in other communities of the country.
The City Government must show determination in implementing the policy and in strictly meting the corresponding fines and other forms of penalty on violators. Personally, this is a big challenge to Silvosa, whose qualities as a middle executive do not include laxity.
Effective info drive
The first hurdle is an effective massive information drive among city residents through the mass media. Silvosa should never rely on the 500,000 copies of waste solid segregation guidelines that Cero is distributing to households.
A visiting professor of the Asian Institute of Management recently told Dabawenyos that only three out of every 100 people read, understand and abide with a policy memorandum or a set of written guidelines.
Marshalling all her charm and good public relations, the Cenro chief should enlist the help of the city's government and private media -print and broadcast- to reach out to public whose stubbornness can be exasperating.
She should follow the example of Mayor Rody himself who makes it a point to mount a media campaign for a major policy or project of the city that need to be fully understood by his constituents.
Dabawenyos are willing to listen, a reason his two weekly programs on television and radio stations are among the most listened to.
For Bisaya stories from Davao. Click here. (May 16, 2006 issue)
Write letter to the editor.Click here.
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