Council approves P40-M fund realignment for trash, but…

THE CEBU City council has approved the request of the Department of Public Services (DPS) for the realignment of P40 million in funds, supposedly for the rental of heavy equipment, to “miscellaneous services” for garbage collection. Of the P121 million allotted for miscellaneous services in DPS’ budget for 2017, only P29 million remains. DPS Assistant Head John Paul Gelasque said that due to the increasing volume of garbage collected every day, the remaining budget allotted for the services of Jomara Konstruckt, which hauls the city’s garbage, is only good up to Tuesday next week. To recall, the city government has set aside P75 million for the three-month contract of Jomara Konstruckt. Jomara started serving the city last Feb. and the budget is supposed to last until the end of April. The P40 million realigned fund would be good for one month and 10 days. At the same time, the council has scheduled an executive session on April 25 for further clarification on the matter. “We approved it already but we wanted to know more the details. Apparently, Mr. Gelasque couldn’t answer some of our questions… We were just shocked at the amount the city is paying for the garbage,” said Councilor Raymond Alvin N. Garcia, who requested the executive session. —