The City Government of Dumaguete through the Environment & Natural Resources Office has institutionalized the Urban Forestry Management & Development program component for 12 years since its inception in 2002.
Its institutionalization is in pursuance to City Ordinance No. 20 and Ordinance No. 18 series of 2002 with an annual budget to ably carry out its different program component field activities. The Ordinances were authored by former City Vice-Mayor and concurrent City Administrator William E. Ablong.
UFMD implementation focuses on arresting the alarming problem of global warming and ensuring a sustainable supply of potable water for the city’s domestic consumption. The UFMD program component has an annual target of planting, caring and growing of 2,500 seedlings as part of the city’s corporate responsibility and contribution in arresting the alarming worldwide problem of global warming, a result of the rise in global temperature which brought climate changes such as flash floods, drought, typhoon surges and earthquakes, concrete manifestations of the interplay of the natural law of force and energy.
To further address these phenomenal events, the City ENRO has strengthened its greening program through massive tree planting and growing. The 2013 reports revealed that ENRO has planted more than 8,000 forest trees species in the different barangays of the city which comprise more than three hectares, thereby increasing the forest cover of the city by two percent from the previous three years of 28 percent.
The UFMD projected an ideal forest cover for urban areas like Dumaguete City of 56 percent or more in order to obtain an ecologically-balanced environment and healthy atmosphere.
Corollary to this, UFMD program component will continue to improve its program implementation in the coming years to ensure and strengthen the establishment of windbreaks, sustainable source of potable water and enhance local wood industry.
City Ordinance No. 115 series of 1998, otherwise known as the Integrated Solid Waste Management System of Dumaguete City, has introduced, established and maintained a new system of waste management within the 30 barangays. From 1998 to 2001, major activities were focused on massive information campaign and education to give the constituency a working knowledge on the new dimension and shift on solid waste management.
In 2002, the solid wastes management system was first implemented in the City Public Market Area and spread out into the eight poblacion barangays. These first waves of activities that were installed and institutionalized on the new wastes management system have earned for Dumaguete City twice as regional champion as the “Cleanest City in Region 7” and twice as national finalist for the same category for component cities.
More than 16 years ago today, the City Government of Dumaguete untiringly continued its efforts to fully implement City Ordinance No. 115 and incorporated the mandatory provisions of Republic Act 9003, otherwise known as the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000.
Recently, the City Government allocated P3 million for the establishment of Material Recovery Facilities for the twenty-one barangays and P1.9 million for the construction of a Central Material Recovery Facility at the dump site which will serve as the depository of garbage from barangays where construction of MRF is not feasible.
Barangay Junob was the first barangay to establish its own barangay-based MRF, while construction of the central material recovery facility started this month.
To diversify its approaches and technologies in mitigating solid wastes, the technical staff of ENRO formulated and submitted a project proposal on Thermolysis Composting with Bio-enzyme costing about P2.6 million, approved by the City Mayor and provided fund allocation taken from the Disaster Risk-Reduction & Management Office.
This technology facilitates for the accelerated decomposition of bio-degradables through bio-enzymes treatment. Parallel to this technology, environmental enforcers were instructed to strictly enforce segregation-at-source pursuant to Republic Act 9003.
One of the major best practices of the City Government of Dumaguete that attracts both local and foreign tourists, local government units, and students from different academic institutions is the Septage Management System.
In 2004, the City of Dumaguete was selected as one of the pilot sites of the project “Local Initiatives for Affordable Wastewater Treatment,“ a project assisted by the US Agency for International Development.
A city-multi-sectoral and multi-disciplinary group conducted a situational analysis of the City’s existing and potential sources of wastewater, water resources at risk of contamination, local sanitation practices and environmental management ordinances.
An important issue raised was the risk of the city’s groundwater from the approximately 20,000 inappropriately constructed and maintained septic tanks. A related concern was the unregulated and indiscriminate disposal of raw and untreated septage.
To address these issues, the City Government enacted the City’s septage Management Ordinance in April 2006 which mandated proper designing, construction and maintenance of septic tanks, regular dislodging, treatment of septage, payment of septage “user fee” to recover capital and operating costs of septage management system, restrictions on the utilization of income from septage “user fee”, social marketing, information campaign and the creation of a septage management authority.
In 2008, the City Government started constructing the septage treatment plant at Barangay Camanjac using the city’s development fund. Six months later, the City government entered into a Memorandum of Agreement with the Dumaguete City Water District for a joint venture agreement on implementing the septage management system. Under this agreement, the Water District will collect and transport septage to the treatment plant, collect septage “user fee” at the rate of P2 per cubic meter consumed by water concessionaires as an add-on to the monthly water bill, maintain financial records and equally share with the City Government all capital and operating costs and any future income. On its part, the City Government will operate and maintain the septage treatment plant.
The septage treatment plant is non-mechanized, purely biological and relies on sunlight, time, micro-organisms and plants to stabilize and convert contaminants in septage into soil conditioner and water for irrigation. Septage collected by vacuum trucks from residences, business establishments and institutions are discharged into receiving tanks or grit chamber to remove large particles. Effluent from the grit chambers then flows into a series of anaerobic ponds wherein anaerobic micro-organisms degrade organic matter into methane, carbon dioxide, sulfides and biomass. Effluent from anaerobic ponds then flows into a facultative pond for further degradation of organic matter by anaerobic and aerobic micro-organisms. Effluent from facultative pond discharges into maturation ponds for further decomposition of organic matter by aerobic micro-organisms and removal of pathogens. Effluent from the maturation ponds undergoes biomechanical filtration at a planted gravel filter as a final and polishing process wherein roots of calla lily plants further degrade pollutants. Effluent from the planted gravel filter then flows into a fish pond or finally to the river.
The City’s septage management system is the first locally-funded project in the country and serves as a model of a viable local initiative for preserving valuable water resource and protecting the health of the constituencies. The program also highlights the potentials of a positive and productive relationship between a local government unit and a government-owned and controlled corporation. It is proving to be technically and economically viable and in the next three years, the septage management system’s capital costs will be fully recovered and the city’s income therein will be redound back to the community in the form of other environmental programs and projects.
Today, the septage and wastewater treatment plant continues to be the subject of masteral studies on environmental engineering, from construction to operation.
The City sent the authors, plus environment enforcer Richard Tobio to attend the Hands-on Training on Urban Tree Health Assessment and Application of Rehabilitation Strategies on Defective Urban Trees conducted by the regional staff of the Ecosystem Research & Development Service of the Department of Environment & Natural Resources Region 7 to beef up ENRO field staff on tree surgery and tree rehabilitation strategies.
The three-man team of tree surgeons will soon initiate tree surgeries of defective urban trees along Burgos Street starting in June, in consonance with the World Environment Day celebration, and to save the City’s “heritage trees” specifically the old and defective acacia and beach agoho (Pine) trees, for their historical and cultural significance, including the aesthetic value these trees contribute to the splendor of Dumaguete. (Arestio D. Encabo, Urban Forestry Management & Development and Edgar A. Caro II, environmental management specialist)
