THE Solid Waste Action Team (Swat) of Bacolod City temporarily stopped the apprehension of violators of the “no segregation, no collection” policy.
Vice Mayor El Cid Familiaran, chairman of Swat, said Tuesday, January 9, he ordered the enforcement unit to stop because the members of the Solid Waste Enforcement and Educators Team (Sweet) failed to undergo training for the apprehension and penalties of violators.
He said the Sweet team is composed of personnel from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) who will impose the penalty to the violators.
“I am expecting that the Sweet team were trained and attended a seminar to fine the violators, but they failed to do so because of the dissolution of the Negros Island Region,” he added.
Familiaran said that the Sweet team should undergo training and seminar to avoid complaints.
He met Tuesday with the DENR-Bacolod personnel to determine the schedule of the Sweet team training.
“After their training, we will continue to apprehend and impose penalties on violators,” Familiaran said.
He said that Republic Act 9003, or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act requires all apprehending officers to undergo training for the implementation of the waste segregation.
Familiaran added that the Swat team will still continue the documentation of the violators in various villages, but they cannot impose the penalties.
In December 2017, the City Government strictly implemented the “no segregation, no collection” policy.
However, Familiaran said the waste segregation compliance is still very low.