Mayor Greg Gastaya said on Monday, January 12, that the new garbage collection schedules for the barangays and businesses in Bacolod City have been released.
They expect garbage collection under the city’s new garbage collector to normalize soon, he said.
They are continuing to catch up on the backlog, Bacolod Environment and Natural Resources Officer Allynluv Dignadice said.
The mayor said there appears to be an organized dumping of garbage in mini dumpsites in the city that is being done on purpose.
The City Legal Officer will come up with strict measures to arrest and penalize such violators, he added.
The new garbage collector of Bacolod is a consortium composed of International Solid Waste Integrated Management Specialist Inc. (ISWIMS), D.C. Sandil Construction and Realty Development Inc., and San Igmedio Builders Inc.
The 50 garbage trucks of the consortium are equipped with GPS so their movement can be monitored in real time, Gasataya said.
The trucks will also play music to alert residents that garbage trucks are in their areas, he said.
Gasataya reported that Bacolod City collected 15,735 cubic meters of garbage from January 1 to 9 — a volume massive enough to fill 7.5 Olympic-sized swimming pools.
Work will also be undertaken for a sustainable dumpsite, he said.
The aim is to set up a 10-megawatt waste to energy plant in Bacolod, the mayor said.
The city government has a pending Memorandum of Agreement with the Department of Energy, he added.
The DOE is willing to provide all the technical and necessary support to prepare for the waste to energy project, he said.
Gasataya expects to have a firm timeline for the waste-to-energy project in three months.
“We believe this will be a game changer in terms of solid waste management,” he said.*