Flood mitigation
As Typhoon Gorio poured heavy rains, classes were suspended for three days in Metro Manila and several neighboring provinces. Gorio did not bring unusually destructive winds, but the rains it spawned triggered flooding that rendered many roads impassable.
The flooding drew attention to a problem that no one can seem to resolve in the National Capital Region: indiscriminate dumping of garbage and inefficient trash collection. Garbage floated in the floods and large heaps littered the streets as the waters receded.
Along Roxas Boulevard, garbage again kept washing ashore throughout the typhoon. Tons of trash are sure to be collected from the bay when Gorio exits; no need for the actor-turned-mayor of Manila to stage another garbage collection show. The garbage is there in the water, and all over Metro Manila, clogging drains and ensuring quick flooding in every downpour.
Local governments are not entirely to blame; many citizens still have to learn the value of proper waste disposal. Trash is still carelessly tossed out of moving vehicles: tissue paper, candy wrappers, peanut shells. Trash segregation can’t take hold; many households won’t even put garbage in bags. In many squatter settlements, local governments rarely bother to encourage proper waste disposal.
The Pasig River has seen some improvement in cleanliness, but many creeks and other waterways are clogged with solid waste. Cities that make an effort to keep their rivers clean suffer from the filth of neighboring cities with little concern for the environment.
Perhaps people will not toss trash in the streets indiscriminately if garbage bins are ubiquitous in public places. But this will require an efficient regular collection of the garbage because it can accumulate rapidly within the day.
Local governments can ease unemployment by hiring more people to clean the streets and waterways and to keep trash from clogging drains. If people refuse to cooperate and change filthy habits, ordinances against littering and improper garbage disposal must be enforced.
Parts of Metro Manila are gradually sinking, resulting in regular crippling floods especially in the areas where residential and commercial structures have been built on natural water catchments. But there is such a thing as flood mitigation, and one of its key elements is proper waste disposal. In this, there’s still much room for improvement.