City has 10 ‘unserviceable’ dumptrucks
BACOLOD CITY — Acting City Legal Officer Atty. Vicente Petierre Jr. confirmed yesterday that 10 out of 37 dumptrucks in the City of Bacolod are unserviceable causing delay in the garbage collection.
Petierre, however, said that the delay is only minimal since the Department of Public Services (DPS) immediately responds if there is uncollected garbage in certain areas.
Petierre made the pronouncement after receiving reports that there are barangays who are complaining of delayed garbage collection.
He said that if the garbage is not collected, it is because the residents failed to comply the “No Segregation No Collection” policy which is vital in the implementation of the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act or R.A 9003.
Petierre cited in some areas in Brgy. Villamonte that did not comply with the city’s policy on segregation scheme.
“The city has already apprehended almost 80 percent of the violators in terms of illegal dumping,” Petierre said. Petierre reiterated that the segregation must begin at source so that the collection must run smoothly. He recommended that if possible, additional dumptrucks will be acquired because compared to Puerto Princesa, they are fully developed in terms of garbage collection.
“Look at Palawan they have a population of 250,000 while we are half a million, but they have 42 dumptrucks while as an urbanized city, we have only 37 dumptrucks and most of this are unserviceable,” Petierre added.
Petierre said that since Bacolod has numerous population compared to Puerto Princesa, the ideal dumptrucks must be 65 to 70 in order to manage smoothly the garbage collection.
“Bacolod has 40 subdivisions that need to be penetrated by the existing dumptrucks,” Petierre lamented. He stressed that the city’s garbage collection will not improve, if everyday, political manipulation prevail over the general welfare of the people.
“If we plan to purchase dumptrucks, new issues crop up against our city officials and this is not effective in governance,” Petierre added.