Koronadal will apply uniform receptacle
The Local Government Unit (LGU) Koronadal will set up a standardized garbage receptacle in every household as city’s official waste holder. It’s a black plastic bag with the city’s logo on it, which makes it easy to identify the rubbish that the garbage collectors have to transport.
To fully explain the purpose and objective of the said program, City Environment and Natural Resources Office (City ENRO) called the 15 barangay chairpersons for a meeting.
During the meeting, City ENR Officer Augustus Bretaña presented the official receptacle. He also discussed the charges applicable to waste receptacles including the no payment, no collection policy.
Bretaña believes that fulfilling such rates can be an issue, but he explained that this is a way for everyone to take proper waste segregation practices more seriously. Apart from this, it is also a means to intensify the campaign and support for the on-going city government’s clean and green initiatives that has been implemented for a long time but so far it is difficult to get 100% support from any individual.
Since, no payment, no garbage collection policy will be applied, households will have to pay Php100 in exchange of four (4) plastic black bags that is intended only for residual and special wastes while biodegradable is not included for tugging. However, the city’s ENR official clarified that the dues would serve as a polluter’s fee and would also be used for maintenance of dump trucks, wages for garbage collectors and other waste-related expenses.
Meanwhile, the logo printed on the plastic bag indicates that the garbage owner in the city has already paid the collection fee, while the city’s ENRO employees will not take the garbage without the logo.
In addition, such a program also applies to businesses and entrepreneurs, even if they are just at home. “The scheme applies to them – pay as they throw”, Bretaña said they would be charged higher fees than households because businesses tend to have more waste than regular residents.
Due to various concerns of the barangay officials regarding the collection fee, the city ENRO challenged the officials to develop their own strategy on how to collect the Php100 fee without aggravating the payers.
Currently, Brgy. Zones I and II have become a pilot barangays for this program because they have already applied waste fees for more than a year.
As the country is still in a pandemic, the official garbage receptacle will not be implemented yet, instead there will be a transition period of four (4) to six (6) months to prepare for its full implementation.