Dahino rants about ‘lousy’ collection of Oro garbage

By LITO RULONA
and ANJANETTE VILLAMOR
Correspondents

COUNCILOR Edna Dahino on Monday complained about what she called as a worsening garbage problem that has been pestering the city for years.

Speaking before the city council, Dahino  said she was concerned because city hall has set aside P130 million this year for  garbage collection services but the problem remains unsolved.

She complained about IPM Corp. that was awarded with the garbage collection services contract in 2013, adding that there were complaints that its workers were inefficient in collecting trash in the villages.

She gave IPM failing mark in over-all cleanliness.

But Dahino cited the Community Local Environment and Natural Resources Office (Clenro) for stepping up the campaign to make people in the barangays help in keeping their villages clean.

“In the nearly five years of being our sole garbage collector, and despite our city’s effort to clean our city and increased funding, reports on loose garbage, that is clearly visible to a passerby on the street, still abound,” Dahino said.

She said she was also concerned over the 560 tons of garbage in the city daily. “I feel it will be dangerous to the long-term strength of our city’s budget if we will not do drastic action to reduce our waste, and evaluate the effectiveness of our garbage collector.”

Councilor Leon Gan said IPM was slow in the collection of garbage  because “the city government is also slow in the payment of services to the collecting and hauling agency.”

“Galisod ang IPM og kolekta sa ilang bayad. Naka-budget na ang payment every year, ngano delayed man gihapon?” Gan asked rhetorically.

Gan also noted the lack of IPM garbage trucks, saying the firm was only using about five. These, he said, were not enough.

Meanwhile, Barangay 10 chairman Christopher Calunod said village officials were doing their best to make people clean their surroundings and properly segragate their wastes.

Calunod said he and other barangay officials have been informing residents about the proper disposal of garbage.

He said there have been improvements but he remained unsatisfied.

He said, “Bisag asa pa gihapon maglabog ang uban. Badlongon nako pero ang tubag, ngano ang lain nga barangay wala man lagi nila gilain?”

There were lapses in the garbage collection, and these should be addressed by IPM, Calunod said.

He noted the lack of coordination in the garbage collection. “Basta kuhaon nalang nila ug dalhon didto sa landfill. Mao ni ang dako nga problema nga walay coordination sa tanan.”