5 new dump trucks for Naga’s garbage

By Armie B. Gunay NAGA CITY --- Five brand new units of dump trucks were delivered to the city government of Naga to compliment the 12 units currently being utilized for garbage collection in the city. The deliveries consisted of one 10-cubic truck, three 3-cubic mini dump trucks, and a multi-purpose vehicle (MVP). They were formally turned over after the blessing of each unit during the flag-raising ceremony at the city hall compound here last Monday, Oct. 15. Engr. Joel Martin, head of the Solid Waste Management Office (SWMO), said the purchase of the additional units is in pursuance of R.A. 9003, the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000, and Naga City Ordinance No. 2001-056, amending City Ordinance No. 96-049 that encourages all households, business and commercial establishments, and institutions to adopt waste segregation at source and proper disposal of the same and providing penalties for violation thereof. He explained the mini dump trucks are intended for garbage collection along narrow roads and alleys in some of the barangays in the city. With the additional trucks, the SWMO is hopeful to increase efficiency in garbage collection from 90% to 95%. Meanwhile, the ongoing construction of the 2.85-hectare sanitary landfill in Barangay San Isidro, here, is expected to be completed by the first quarter of next year. Still, the city government, thru the SWMO, City Planning and Development Office (CPDO) and other concerned offices, has its hand full with its waste-to-energy facility, a burn technology that will be built next to the sanitary landfill. The SWMO is also staging a competition among city hall offices, the Kita An Pangarugan 2018, which encourages waste management practice among the offices, through garbage segregation, to serve as an example to households in the 27 barangays of Naga. The operation of Material Recovery Facilities (MRFs) in each barangay in the city, which allows for the recycle of still reusable materials such as plastic bottles, among others, is also one of the ways to achieve a 50% waste diversion goal. With the maximum of 90 tons or 90,000 kilograms of garbage that the city collects every day, the SWMO still believes that segregation at source is a good practice at lessening the volume of garbage being disposed at both the Balatas dump site and San Isidro sanitary landfill.