THE City Government of Bacolod will enforce the “no segregation, no collection” policy before the completion of Cell No.2 at the sanitary landfill in Barangay Felisa in July.
Vice Mayor El Cid Familiaran, chairman of the Solid Waste Action Team (Swat), said on Tuesday, March 19, that he will hold a meeting with members of Swat on Monday to discuss compliance of Republic Act 9003 or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act, and the reactivation of the solid waste enforcement unit.
“We will enforce the waste segregation policy because after the completion of Cell No.2, we will not collect unsegregated garbage,” he said.
Familiaran noted that the construction of Cell No. 2 is expected to be completed in June or July.
In 2018, the City Government also implemented the “no segregation, no collection” policy, but the program was a failure because residents did not observe the proper way of disposing garbage.
Familiaran admitted that most of the city residents still do not segregate their wastes.
He said the solid waste enforcement unit will be tasked to monitor the illegal dumping of garbage and to penalize the violators.
The enforcement unit, which is composed of 200 members, will be dispatched 24 hours a day in 61 barangays.
“It’s an effective strategy to educate the residents. They should learn how to dispose their garbage properly or else they will pay the penalties,” Familiaran said.
Violators will pay P500 for the first offense, P1,000 and P2, 000 for the second and third offenses, respectively, or do community service.
Familiaran also asked the cooperation of the barangay officials to intensify information dissemination to educate their constituents on waste segregation. (MAP)