• THERESA MAE DULMAN
The Bacolod Environment and Natural Resources Office (BENRO) has urged barangay officials to enforce a 24/7 monitoring at deployed trash bin sites to prevent the scattering of garbage to surrounding areas.
BENRO officer-in-charge, Atty. Allyn Luv Dignadice, said Aug. 25 that barangays committed to maintaining round-the-clock personnel at these sites upon signing agreements with the office.
“The bins are actually effective; our problem is the discipline of the people on how to utilize the bin. That’s why our agreement with barangay captains when they requested for the deployment of the bin in their area is that they will put personnel 24/7,” she said.
Dignadice said the monitors are tasked with assisting residents in properly disposing of garbage into large bins and immediately notifying BENRO when containers are full so that the garbage collector – International Solid Waste Integrated Management Specialists Inc. – can haul the garbage away.
The renewed call for compliance came after waste management flaws were observed at a deployment site in Barangay Handumanan, specifically near the Mormon Church, with garbage left scattered on the ground instead of being disposed into the waste container.
Dignadice said she will meet with Handumanan punong barangay Febe Legaspi to discuss relocating the bin to a more manageable area.
“They are the ones who select the area (where the bin will be placed). An ocular inspection is conducted together with our private contractor to see if it is ideal…and to ensure they (barangay) have personnel stationed there to watch over it. There are some that are really okay, but others that are still problematic,” she stressed.
To date, BENRO has placed 13 large trash bins across Bacolod. | TMD
