OVER a hundred tons of garbage were collected by Barangay Labangon in Cebu City following their ongoing river clean-up in Kinalumsan River for the past two weeks.
Labangon Barangay Captain Derrick Yap said that they are now on their third week of cleaning up the said river which is adjacent to its neighboring barangays.
Yap said that they have already installed nets in the river borders of Labangon and its neighboring barangays and he is set to meet with barangay captains concerned to unify their objectives in keeping the rivers clean.
"Now we're having a hard time maintaining it. We're trying our best to educate everyone, especially the households near the rivers that it is not easy to clean up the rivers and it is for their own good," said Yap stating that one of the densely populated sitios in their barangay, Sitio Callejon, is near the river.
Yap added that through the office of Cebu City South District Congressman Edu Rama, they were able to use the excavating equipment of the Department of Public Works and Highways including its 6-wheeler trucks where the garbage and silt were transported.
The village chief also revealed that they had to temporarily dismantle some of the riprap owned by private individuals near the river for the backhoe to fit in some of the areas in Kinalumsan.
"We took the initiative to personally call the owners of these areas and luckily they have agreed to sacrifice a portion of their properties for us to proceed with the clean-up operations," said Yap.
Yap said that even though they were able to borrow excavating equipment from DPWH, they have struggled with the daily fuel for its operations.
He also recognized that while they have started cleaning up the rivers, they are also working on improving their garbage collection, especially those sitios that are near the river.
"The administration now is working on purchasing new garbage trucks and I believe the Cebu City Government will also help us with the garbage trucks and the barangay itself through our funds we will find ways to solve the issue of garbage collection," added Yap.
Aside from the ongoing clean-up operations, Yap also tasked their street cleaners to pick up garbage in the river every afternoon to keep it clean.
"More or less we are still at 50% of our target in cleaning Kinalumsan River, but we are very optimistic and with the help of our residents by disciplining them, hopefully, we can achieve our goals," said Yap.
Less than 100 days since he assumed into office, Yap aims to make Barangay Labangon clean and peaceful.
"I believe when it's clean, when it's peaceful more investors will come in and trust the barangay."