• CHERYL G. CRUZ
Bacolod Mayor Greg Gasataya said July 21 that he has instructed the city’s garbage collector, IPM Construction and Development Corp., to submit within this week the daily garbage collection route plan for the barangays.
This schedule will be the basis for the collection/hauling of garbage in the 61 barangays, aside from the downtown area and the major markets of Bacolod.
Gasataya, during a press conference at his office yesterday, said he also instructed IPM to ensure the efficient collection of garbage in downtown Bacolod, and to strictly follow the schedule so that the garbage put out for pickup would not be scattered and eventually clogged canals or drainage, resulting in flooding.
He said he had met with IPM representatives twice since he assumed office, and the contractor assured him of full compliance to its obligations.
In his inaugural address June 28, Gasataya took note of the numerous complaints, mostly about garbage collection, that had been raised, and challenged IPM to “shape up or ship out”.
IPM won the P303-million collection/hauling and disposal of garbage contract that started February and will end Dec. 31 this year.
In the contract, IPM must follow the garbage zonal collection schedule established by the Bacolod Environment and Natural Resources Office (BENRO), which includes a daily pickup of garbage from 41 numbered barangays, and along main roads like Lacson, Araneta, San Juan, Rizal, Gonzaga, Libertad, Mabini, Burgos, Hilado, Capitol Shopping Area, C.L. Montelibano, whole of downtown area, B.S. Aquino Drive, circumferential and other main and secondary roads, and at the three major markets, the satellite markets, and establishments and other areas identified by BENRO.
“If the contractor does not comply with the garbage zonal collection schedule, and there are complaints of uncollected garbage that remain unresolved (by the IPM) within 24 hours of notification by the BENRO, an appropriate penalty will be imposed by the city,” the contract added.
Gasataya said there was “no agreement between IPM and the city as to the daily garbage collection route plan” before. As such, he is awaiting its submission within this week “para makapirmahanay (for an agreement to be signed)”.
Members of the Sangguniang Panlungsod also earlier pushed for a public hearing with regard IPM’s contract.
Councilor Homer Bais, chairperson of the SP Committee on Environment and Ecology, in his privilege speech, noted that the flashflood that submerged many houses early this month was mainly due to “clogged drainage systems filled with uncollected garbage and plastic waste”, and pointed to IPM’s lapses in its contract. | CGC
