CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – Several residents here have complained that their garbage has not been collected for weeks.
A TRUCK from a private volunteer collects garbage from different areas in Cagayan de Oro City on January 16, 2023. The city government has tapped private entities to collect garbage as part of the contingency plan due to the ongoing collection problems. (File photo courtesy of the Cagayan de Oro City Information Office)
During the city council session on Monday, September 4, Councilor Malvern Esparcia reported that the garbage collection schedule has not been followed and that garbage collectors are unable to penetrate inner areas here.
Engr. Armen Cuenca, head of the City Local Environment and Natural Resources Office (CLENRO), acknowledged the residents’ concerns and explained that there are delays in collection when the garbage trucks are full prior to reaching their next destination.
This has often happened, especially when the collector would go the same route in their next collection schedule.
Cuenca proposed to the contractor, the joint venture between Jomara Konstruckt Corp. and Tencil Construction Inc., to take the areas where garbage has not been collected instead in the second day of the schedule.
"We had a meeting with the contractor on Tuesday, and we forwarded that concern, and they accepted my suggestion," Cuenca said on Thursday, September 7.
Garbage collection on the main roads, on the other hand, was also changed this week to 9 p.m. onwards, instead of morning, to avoid heavy traffic.
Esparcia asked if the contractor already has the required 70 garbage trucks required of which majority should be brand new.
The CLENRO head said the contractor has met the requirement and even added an additional 10 garbage trucks that can accommodate one cubic meter of garbage each for the inner areas of this city.
The contractor has been collecting 39,000 to 40,000 cubic meters of garbage per month since May, Cuenca said, way beyond their original contract, which was to collect 33,000 cubic meters per month.
Cuenca believes that the volume of waste that the city government is accommodating has increased because the barangays forget their role in solid waste management.
Section 10 of Republic Act No. 9003, or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000, states that segregation and collection of solid waste, specifically biodegradable, compostable, and reusable waste, shall be conducted on the barangay level.
Thus, the only responsibility of the city or municipal government shall be the collection of non-recyclable materials and special wastes.
Cuenca said garbage collectors are still collecting mixed waste, including dead animals, due to poor segregation practices, which make it hard for them and the barangays to follow the proper collection of waste.
The public was urged to do their job by segregating their waste as the city government will start implementing on September 16 the strict Integrated Ecological Solid Waste Management Ordinance of Cagayan de Oro where garbage from every household would not be collected if they are not properly segregated.