DENR urges LGUs: ‘Fight garbage’
ROXAS CITY – Local government units in the country have been urged to help in proper waste disposal.
Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Lito Atienza, in a press report, has called on all the provinces, cities, municipalities and barangays in the country to collectively join their efforts and active participation in the fight against garbage.
Atienza said that all local officials need to make their respective share for the Philippines to become a “zero-basura” country.
Recently, an inter-agency caravan, dubbed as “FOURmula 1-Zero Basura Caravan” led by DENR, aims to awaken everybody to perform their individual and collective responsibilities in the implementation of Republic Act 9003 or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000.
Atienza explained that said law protects not only the environment but also the water bodies where the LGUs are mandated as prime movers of the program.
The caravan kicked off yesterday in Ipil, Zamboanga Sibugay and is set to pass through the provinces, cities and towns throughout Mindanao, Visayas and Luzon areas.
“In solid waste management, the enemy is visible and odorous. If we put our minds and our hearts into it, we can conquer our garbage problems, manage them ecologically and move closer towards a zero waste society,” Atienza said.
In Capiz, local government units have been implementing their respective local ordinances on solid waste management and disposal.
In Sigma town, in particular, it is already implementing the non-use of plastics and cellophanes within their public market. Market vendors, instead, are using banana leaves, paper bags, “buri” bags and other indigenous materials.
The efforts down to the barangay levels are their contributions to help in the campaign against global warming, local leaders here said. (PIA/Jemin B. Guillermo)