A city councilor pushes for the reinforcement in the implementation of the Ecological Solid Waste Management Ordinance of 2009 after noting that certain barangays have weak implementation of the said law.
In his privilege speech in yesterday’s regular session, neophyte councilor Diosdado Angelo Junior Mahipus said he will personally visit barangays throughout the city to conduct inspection and survey as to their implementation of the Solid Waste Management Ordinance.
“I will also personally visit the barangays if they have the Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) and if there are allocations in the implementation of the Solid Waste Management Plans,” Mahipus, a lawyer who heads the council’s Committee on Environment and Natural Resources, said.
Mahipus suggested that barangays with no area for MRF should coordinate with neighboring barangays that have MRF.
According to Mahipus, he will also visit far-flung barangays to look into reports that garbage are improperly disposed in the hinterlands, including the Tamugan watershed area where the city’s water will be sourced soon.
“We will see to it that we will be able to visit all the barangays because I will make a report to the City Council on this matter,” Mahipus said.
Mahipus said that based on the recent Executive-Legislative Agenda, the environment cluster has the most gaps or challenges including air pollution, smoke and odor nuisance, illegal logging, green space, water quality, “and one of the most glaring is our challenge is solid waste management.”
The councilor told reporters that he is “calling the concerned agencies to inform the City Council on how can we help them in the implementation of the ordinance.”
The Association of Barangay Captain (ABC) President Edgar Ibuyan Sr. said he will fully support the move and call for the cooperation of other barangay leaders if Mahipus will go around the City for assessment.
Ibuyan, the chair of Barangay 5-A, Poblacion District, admitted that some barangays in the City were identified to have been lenient in the implementation of the Solid Waste Management Ordinance.
“These are Brgys. 37-D, 31-D, and 76-A,” he said.
These barangays have garbage-clogged drainage, according to Ibuyan.
