Lawyer John Jigo Dacua, head of the City’s General Services Office, told SunStar Cebu Monday, Sept. 12, 2022, that the City Government has a limited number of vehicles that can assist the barangays in their garbage collection operations.
A resident of Barangay Guadalupe had recently complained that their garbage had not been collected for weeks already.
Guadalupe village chief Michael Gacasan told SunStar Cebu last Sunday that the barangay had been struggling to collect garbage since it does not have enough trucks to cater to around 30,000 households in its jurisdiction.
Gacasan said the barangay has already procured four additional trucks to complement its two existing vehicles. The first two new vehicles were already delivered and have been operational since last week.
Dacua said it is now time for barangays to invest in the procurement of vehicles that can improve their garbage collection system.
“We have been supporting Barangay Guadalupe and all other barangays with trucks. The problem is that the City also has only a limited number of trucks. Since so many borrow the trucks, plus we use them for our daily operations, sometimes they really can’t cope with the volume of garbage,” said Dacua.
The City Government has a current fleet of 14 trucks that collect garbage along major roads, said Dacua.
Aside from that, Dacua also said the City Government has exclusively allocated four garbage trucks for different barangays that they can use in collecting wastes within their jurisdiction.
The barangays that frequently borrow trucks from the City Hall are Guadalupe, Bulacao and Zapatera, he said.
Far dumpsite
Another cause of the delay in the collection of garbage as raised by Gacasan is the distance of the dumping site that is located in Barangay Binaliw.
Gacasan lamented that because of the dumping area’s location, their garbage trucks can make only a few trips a day.
Dacua explained that the garbage transfer station in the old Inayawan dumpsite is currently not operational.
“For now, our weighing scale in Inayawan needs to undergo repair,” said Dacua.