LAOAG CITY—The city government here again reiterated its desire to fully and strictly implement its solid waste management program, with a focus in waste segregation.
In a bid to achieve this, Laoag Mayor Michael M. Keon met with all of the city’s barangay chairpersons to tell them to prepare for the closure of the controlled dumpsite at Brgy. Lagui-Sail and the subsequent opening and operation of the new sanitary landfill at Brgy. Balatong.
During the said meetings, which occurred in two batches, Keon said that since the city’s rural barangays have plenty of vacant lots, the barangay chiefs there could create communal compost pits. He also learned from the barangay heads that waste segregation at the source is not fully implemented; as a result, stray animals usually scavenge for food from them.
To remedy this, he said the City Veterinary Office should have an animal impounding area to collect stray animals. He further learned that the city’s residents also sometimes dump their garbage a long barangay roads and thoroughfares, and even along irrigation canals that would usually cause clogging.
After the meeting, Keon said the city’s barangay heads promised to help in the strict implementation of the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act in their respective barangays. He, however, accepted the fact that barangay officials cannot do this alone without the cooperation of their barangay constituents.
Some barangay chairpersons suggested the use of additional CCTV systems in their barangays to closely monitor who is dumping unsegregated wastes so they can go after them with fines and other penalties. The first-term mayor also announced that they will enforce the “no waste segregation, no collection”, as the new landfill can only accommodate residual wastes. Keon, meanwhile, solicited the help of all the city’s residents to be more disciplined and help in the implementation of the waste management program.
“Masapol tayo ti agtitinnulong kadaytoy a ganwat tapnu masalakniban tayo ti aglaw-lawken ken tapnu mamentenar tayo iti kinadalus iti bukod tayo a barangay ken iti sibubukel a siyudad iti Laoag”, Keon appealed.
Dominic B. Dela Cruz | Staff Reporter