The City of Dumaguete seems to be at a loss on the issue of garbage.
Garbage continues to pile up at the dumpsite in barangay Candau-ay, which is now spilling out to the road as the City-owned bulldozer that used to push the garbage away from the street and back into the hill has been out of order for some time now.
Efforts at finding an alternative dumpsite have proven futile because of the requirement for social acceptance. No person in his right mind would want to live next to a dumpsite.
In previous years, the City addressed the problem by buying a biological enzyme that eats the garbage and reduces the volume and – more importantly–the smell of the garbage.
Now, the Commission on Audit prohibits the use of government funds to buy that garbage minimizer because, in the words of a former City Administrator, “the COA insists on closing the dumpsite”.
Surely, the COA should come to its senses sooner. All they have to do is to go to the dumpsite to get a better view of the problem. Garbage is mounting, and it has nowhere else to go. Why not spend government money to buy the biological solution?
Of course, this solution we’re talking about is temporary. There has to be a better way to handle our garbage. If no other town will agree to partner with us in handing our garbage, we should try to find innovative ways of managing it for the long term.
Every Dumagueteño simply needs to go to this dumpsite to get thoroughly-grossed out at the garbage we have all been generating in our homes and throwing away — in barangay Candau-ay sadly. Just maybe we will all resolve to do something about it.
Old solutions like recycling, reusing, and reducing our trash volume have not really sunk in, even though they appear to be the most logical to our garbage problem.
We are aware the City is doing something about the garbage problem.
But we also need solutions from each of us in our respective homes, workplaces, in restaurants, at the grocery. Each of us has to do something to simply lessen our garbage — for everyone’s sake.