DUMAGUETE CITY – The best practices on environmental protection of three pilot areas of the Zero Waste Cities Project here will be among the highlights of a four-day media fellowship of international journalists to be held April 27 to 30 in this capital city of Negros Oriental province.
Merci Ferrer, who heads the War on Waste (WOW) Dumaguete, the proponent of the Zero Waste Cities Project, on Wednesday said the participants will be visiting the Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) of Barangays Looc, Piapi, and Bantayan.
The Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA) and the Break Free From Plastic (BFFP) are spearheading the Southeast Asia Reporters’ Fellowship that will gather journalists from Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines for lectures and discussions on waste incineration issues.
The holding of the event is in partnership with WOW Dumaguete and the Mongabay EnviroNews Philippines/Philippine Network of Environmental Journalists.
Ferrer said Dumaguete was chosen as the venue for the activity "because of the work that we are doing” on zero waste management.
The three adjacent coastal barangays of Looc, Piapi, and Bantayan, through their village chiefs, inked an agreement last year with WOW and other partner groups to pass an ordinance for the strict implementation of laws on waste disposal.
Part of the commitment of these barangays was to impose fines on constituents who do not heed the call for proper waste disposal and segregation at source.
The sessions during the reporters’ fellowship will include Zero Waste approaches, plastic pollution, and the role of media in the environment agenda.
There will be site visits to the Zero Waste communities in Dumaguete and the plastic-free community models in the nearby island-province of Siquijor.
Ferrer said the Zero Waste program in the three barangays is an effort of WOW and its partner civil society organizations.
She lamented that some political candidates have allegedly claimed it to be that of the city government and have reportedly used this as part of their campaign for the May 13 elections. (PNA)
