AS A communication professor and practitioner, I abhor the abuses committed by individuals on social media, especially those who post just anything they do even if it does not have relevance to other people.
I would say that the effort of the new chief of the Department of Public Services (DPS) in immediately publicizing on social media what his office is doing, not to mention his quick defense against any issue that hounds the chief executive, is fairly justified with the lesser garbage on the streets.
I am not saying that trash is totally eradicated just after six months of the Labella administration, but in places that I always went to, it has drastically dropped and if there was still litter left, that is the handiwork of undisciplined residents who put out the garbage after the scheduled collection.
Keep those work-related posts coming because at least the public has a mechanism to know how their taxes are being spent and for us to validate if the social media projection effort corresponds to actual efficiency in dispensing public service.
However, there is another thing that I want the leadership of DPS to also focus on, aside from garbage collection. Please hose down and disinfect roadsides and sidewalks used as instant urinals that already acquired the pungent smell of ammonia.
One place that I have been to thrice last week that is emitting the strong smell of urine is that portion of M.C. Briones St. starting from the corner of D. Jakosalem towards Carbon Market. Pictures of the place being cleaned are seen all over social media yet the place is still stinking from human leak.
What is ironic is that the place is proximate to the Cebu City Hall. The strong stench of urine is not confined to that space but spreads also to many areas in the downtown district that usually look like dumpsites and are poorly lighted.
The area that I am referring to near City Hall is that portion where vegetables are displayed from the evening until dawn, but I wonder where the vendors occupying this space would go to relieve themselves.
I am not accusing the vendors of urinating on the sidewalk but I could not be mistaken that the stinky odor that greeted me after attending the 4 a.m. novena of the Sto. Niño on my way out to get a ride came from urine.
On the other side of Carbon Market, specifically beside Mt. Carmel Parish Recoletos right across the Freedom Park, the problem of heavy urine stench was solved with the construction of a public urinal attached to the wall of the parish along Leon Kilat St. The public urinal was established and maintained by the parish to prevent anyone from urinating on the street.
The City Government should look into how the parish undertook the project that drastically lessened the abhorrent smell in the area because passersby now use the urinal, instead of awkwardly relieving themselves against the walls.
For the meantime, before the City could construct public urinals, please freshen up stinky sidewalks in the downtown area by dousing water and some disinfectant before the situation becomes a public health issue.