Explain dirty streets, Clenro, IPM-CDC told

City Councilors want to summon both the City Local Environment and Natural Resources Office (Clenro) and the city’s sole garbage collector, IPM-Construction and Development Corp. (IPM-CDC), to explain why the city’s streets have been filling up with uncollected garbage in the last two weeks.

In a special report, City Councilor Edna Dahino said in the nearly five years of being the city’s sole garbage collector, the IPM-CDC has apparently failed to do a good job, citing reports of trash visible to passersby on streets.

“Sa last two weeks, I personally witnessed the piles of garbage along the areas that I frequently pass by, leading some of our residents to wonder if taxpayer’s money is indeed being put to good use and whether increased funding leads to better service,” Dahino said.

Dahino said she wants the City Council to look into who is responsible for the mess-- on whether Clenro is not fulfilling its oversight function or if IPM-CDC is not doing its job efficiently.

She said there is something amiss between the two entities who are in-charge of the city’s garbage generation.

“Maybe it is miscommunication between the two, we don’t know, so this is something we want to find out,” she said.

She said the city council has been “generous” to Clenro, in terms of financial support, so that garbage woes won’t be a problem anymore.

Dahino said the City Council approved and has given over P130 million to fund the city’s garbage reduction and collection program.

City Councilor Leon Gan, meanwhile, said the city has not been paying its dues religiously, hence the slow garbage collection.

“IPM is a big company, a collector of garbage in many big cities, but we have a problem, but the issue behind this, why there is a slow collection of our garbage all through out the city, is because of the issue of payment,” he said.

“Galisod ang IPM ug kolekta, ug dugay sad ang bayad nato sa syudad, that’s why, we need to look into this because, naka-budget naman atong payment every year, but why is it naay delay in the payment of garbage collection? Asa naman diay ang pondo nga atong gigahin pangbayad sa pagpangolekta sa basura?” he added.

Gan said when he visited IPM’s warehouse, he was surprised to see that many vehicles are parked inside the compound,

but only few are roaming around the city to collect garbage.

But Oliver Egypto, head of the City Solid Waste Management Task Force, said the delay of the garbage collection last week has already been addressed.

Egypto said the delay was beyond their control.

“Naa ta sa adjustment period, particularly sa turnaround sa sakyanan. Naa man gud kitay transfer station diha sa Zayas. Diha ibutang ang garbage para ma-segregate, while ang dili na magamit mao ang ideliver sa landfill sa Pagalungan,” he said.

“Giallow na siya sa EMB (Environment Management Bureau), pero nahuman naman ang transition period na 6 months, so ato ng gipa-try ang tanang units na mo diritso na sa landfill sa Pagalungan, kay giclose na nato ang transfer station. I don’t know kung unsay nahitabo sa ilang transfer units, pero ang akong nasabtan sa ilang explanation, nag-adjust pud sila tungod sa distansya kaayo ang Pagalungan,” he said.

Egypto however said, that the collection

is back to normal and that the backlog has already been addressed.

He said the amount of garbage that end up in the dumpsite has also decreased this year as more recyclables are ending up in junk shops.

“We admit na daily nga struggle gyud ang collection. But we are happy na 40-50 percent ang volume sa basura nga daily produced is na-divert na, ang signs, buhi kaayo ang junk shops na mga businesses kay ang mga mangaykayay nag-resort na sila to junk shops,” he said.

“Daily ni nga struggle because there are things that we cannot control, such as the traffic, breakdown sa sakyanan, as well as ang weather pud. We also want to point out that ang efficiency sa collection is mag-depende sa waste generation and management sa community level,” he added.

Egypto also disputed Gan’s claims regarding the supposed delays in payment or unsettled bills.

“Plastar man atong billings sa ila (IPM),” Egypto said.