DUMAGUETE CITY -- Three barangays in Dumaguete City have begun the house-to-house collection of all types of garbage as part of their implementation of a Zero Waste management program.
Barangays Bantayan, Piap, and Looc are contiguous in terms of location and all are shoreline villages.
The leaders of the three barangays signed a memorandum of agreement on Thursday with Mother Earth Foundation, War on Waste Break Free From Plastic Negros Oriental (WOW-BFFP-NegOr), and the Zero Waste Cities Project-Dumaguete with co-convenor Merci Ferrer, on the implementation of the program.
Signing for their respective barangays were chairpersons Nerio Grapa of Bantayan, Charlemagne Bantilan of Piapi, and Angelita Ragay of Looc, witnessed by Councilor Manny Arbon, who heads the city council committee on environment.
According to Ferrer, the three village chiefs were daring and bold enough to say, “We want to be the pilot barangays in the zero waste management project.”
She said that so far, the three barangays are doing amazing work in carrying out the program. They also took part in a three-day study tour dubbed "Zero Waste Academy".
According to Ferrer, Republic Act No. 9003 or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act is now 18 years old and “we are making a very big contribution here in Dumaguete City and Negros Oriental.”
“(O)nce and for all, we are implementing the spirit and heart of the law through the barangays because the first two major components of RA 9003 are the households and the barangays, and for the city to take care of the residual wastes,” she said.
Ferrer further said that it is high time for Dumagueteños and Negrenses to know and realize that “we are putting too much pressure on our city to solve the garbage problem when the barangays should be doing its share and each one of us should contribute to its solution.”
Barangays Looc, Piapi, and Bantayan were chosen as pilot barangays of the Zero Waste program because of the sheer political will of their respective barangay captains and village councils, and the support of their communities, Ferrer said.
These three barangays are host to marine sanctuaries even as they are responding to the international clamor for everybody to stop polluting the seas, rivers, and other bodies of water.
Part of the zero waste management project is the establishment of a materials recovery facility (MRF), which is practical and doable, contrary to beliefs that it is expensive to put up and maintain.
In Looc, a barangay ordinance is up for third and final reading to support the implementation of the project, whereby enforcers, sweepers, and so-called waste heroes or the collectors, are tasked to collect all types of garbage daily from the more than 1,000 households with a fee of PHP30 a month, said village chief Ragay.
She said the collected amount will be used to defray the honorarium of two waste heroes, while the council members, including the barangay captain, contribute PHP1,000 from their own pockets for the PHP1,000 monthly honorarium of the environment enforcer. The two sweepers are also paid by the barangay.
Under the ordinance, house-to-house garbage collection is done but segregation at source is mandated so that recyclables, biodegradable and non-biodegradable wastes are already separated.
The waste heroes use “trisikads” (a bicycle with side-car) in their collection activity every morning and early in the evening at the MRF area.
Proceeds from the sale of recyclable garbage are shared among the sweepers, collectors and the waste heroes while bio-degradable wastes will be de-composted inside the MRF area to be used as fertilizer for crops.
Looc is also transforming every idle lot in the barangay into a mini-MRF or composting area for biodegradables.
In an interview, the three village chiefs said implementing the Zero Waste program is their way of helping the city combat the huge garbage problem.
Meanwhile, the War on Wastes - Negros Oriental is extending technical support and consultancy services to the village chiefs in every aspect of the project implementation. The co-convenor assured the pilot barangays they will stay in the city for another year and monitor and evaluate the sustainability of the Zero Waste program. (PNA)
