kaban galing - front cover - galing pook

Political Will, Economic Way
Upon his assumption of office, the current local chief executive prioritized
solid waste management for the whole municipality in his agenda. He
issued an executive order creating the Municipal Solid Waste
Management Council and set aside funds for its operation. He also
pushed for the immediate passage of the Ecological Solid Waste
Management Program that sets, among other things, the legal basis for
project implementation. The municipal council then passed a 10-year
ecological solid waste management program which outlines the
program’s objectives, goals and strategies. It is also in the process of
passing the proposed Comprehensive Solid Waste Management
Program of the municipality. The ordinance would guide, control and
regulate generation, storage, collection, transport and disposal of solid
waste within the town and promote an orderly and sanitary system within
the community.
Taking into account the projected waste generation, the municipality
took a bold step to produce a “win-win” solution. It negotiated with the
people in Daga, the proposed site for the new dumpsite, and managed
to convince them about the concept of putting up an “ecological park” in
the area.
The 2.4-hectare Ecological Park houses a nursery, a seminar area,
a recycling area, fruit tree plantation and vegetable garden. The dump
is reserved for commercial market refuse equivalent to 50 sacks on
Tuesdays (tabo/market day) and 20 sacks on other days. The refuse is
fed to a shredder before being taken to the dump. The non-biodegradable
wastes are segregated and stored in the materials recovery facility
(MRF) and later sold to junk shops. Bags of compost or organic fertilizer
produced at the Ecological Park are given to residents who request for
them, providing residents with cheap and sustainable source of fertilizer.
The old dump along Sulbod Street was transformed into a community
vegetable garden. The mounds of garbage are gone. In their place are
rows of camote, okra, eggplant and corn. Fishponds are being readied
for catfish raising.
In time, the policy of “no segregation, no collection” adopted by the
program began to bear fruit. Market vendors and residents have learned
to segregate waste, otherwise they risk not having it collected.
Knowledge that failure to comply with the policy entails penalties that
vary from paying a fine to doing community service has also forced them
94 Kaban Galing