BARANGAY captains consider the June 12 ultimatum given by Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama last April to rid the streets of garbage and street dwellers “difficult” to comply with completely.
Victor Buendia, barangay captain of Barangay Labangon, told SunStar Cebu Monday, June 5, 2023 that while they have been taking steps to achieve the goal, they still need City Hall’s support, especially on the matter of street dwellers.
“It’s difficult to do. We need the City Hall’s support for the authority to remove the street dwellers along the streets,” Buendia said.
He added that their garbage collection has become harder since they are collecting only once a day, as opposed to the ideal twice or thrice every day.
Buendia said the thrice-a-day garbage collection does not happen because of the time constraints and traffic congestion. He said the truck also encounters hitches along the way because the road to the dumping site is steep.
The landfill where the barangays must bring their trash is in the mountain barangay of Binaliw in the north district of Cebu City. Labangon is in the south district.
But Buendia assured that the goal is achievable so long as there is no political agenda involved.
“Yes, it will always be done by a mayor who does not involve any political agenda. Ang lisod na (The difficult) aspect is if a leader is not serious about it, but only for political propaganda,” Buendia added.
For Barangay Sambag 1, chief Aileen Guardo said the street dwellers need to have a place to be relocated to, after seeing that no matter how many times they apprehend these dwellers, they end up coming back.
“Regarding the street dwellers, we really need a relocation site for them because our efforts end up being useless because they just keep coming back, and most of them are not even from my barangay,” Guardo said.
The garbage collection scheme in Sambag 1 is also challenging, Guardo said. The regular collection sometimes fails and cannot keep up with the volume of the trash in the area.
Guardo said they are supposed to have two trips of garbage collection per day, but because of the distance to where the garbage is dumped, along with the traffic, they end up making only one trip a day. Guardo cited the distance even if Sambag 1 is already located in the same north district as Binaliw.
The single trip sometimes cannot accommodate the trash from different institutions in the barangay, Guardo said. She mentioned the City Central School, Abellana National School, and even the boarding houses in the area, although she said the goal of meeting the June 12 deadline is “doable.”
In Barangay San Nicolas Proper, they are doing what they can, especially for the garbage collection.
Clifford Niñal, barangay captain of Barangay San Nicolas Proper, said even if they have regular collections, the challenge is with the going back and forth of the garbage trucks to Binaliw in the north. His barangay is located in the south.
In Barangay Tinago, barangay captain Domingo Lopez said the June 12 deadline is not feasible because some concerned agencies, which he did not name, are not cooperating. (EKV)