ILOILORiver

IF THE public realm is the physical manifestation of the common good, then Iloilo City’s common good is, essentially, not good. What we see in our public realm reflects how we as a people value the common good. Considering that Iloilo City has a serious garbage problem, then we too, as a people, have one. And no matter how efficient our garbage collection system might be, that would not create some impact if no positive change comes from the producers of solid waste, that is, the people.

Elsewhere, the problem of solid waste and its resulting troubles like floods, diseases, visual, air and water pollution are giving local governments headaches and unnecessary expenses. Iloilo City, a rapidly growing metropolis, is not spared from these crises. In fact, we had our best share of destructive floods, outbreaks of leptospirosis and other water-borne diseases, and a failing grade in the government’s Clean and Green program.

Based on city government statistics, Iloilo City produces 250,000 kilos (250 tons) of solid waste daily. Iloilo City has a resident population of around 370,000, which swells to around 550,000 during daytime to include the multitude that transact business here everyday. Dividing the total solid waste production by the daytime population would show that each person in Iloilo City produces more than half a kilo of garbage a day.

Of the total volume of garbage that we produce daily, only 80 percent can be collected by government-contracted garbage collectors and the remaining 20 percent dirty our streets and clog our drainage. Our city spends millions of pesos in garbage collection, eating a big chunk of our meager budget. Eco-aides clean the streets in the morning only to find them in the same grimy state the following day, a cycle that is repeated as garbage is produced every minute and every hour of the day.

Every minute we see litter despite the fact that they are being cleaned and collected round-the-clock. Watching jeepneys pass by from one street corner, for example, one can see commuters throw out candy wrappers, cigarette butts, juice packs, hamburger foils and tissue paper, among others, like rice threshers churning out straws. This is happening despite an anti-littering ordinance penalizing the act and a national law mandating us to practice solid waste management.

Aside from floods, diseases, pollutions and costs, Iloilo City has another problem. It will have nowhere to bring its solid waste to a few years from now. At the rate of production of 250 tons of garbage a day, the city public service office estimates that the 23-hectare Calajunan dumpsite will be filled in five years, and it will have to be closed by then, forcing the city government to look for another site to host our garbage. But then, where? Which community will agree to have another Smokey Mountain in their neighborhood?

To prolong the lifespan of the Calajunan dumpsite to another 10 years or more, and to spare the city government from too much spending, and also ourselves from bearing the ill effects of floods, diseases and pollutions, there is a need to reduce the volume of waste that we produce everyday by 50 to 60 percent. In this way, we reduce the volume of garbage that we deposit to the garbage dump, thus giving it a much-needed respite.

In order to reduce the volume of garbage that goes to the dumpsite, waste segregation, reduction from source and recycling are being preached. While government does its share of putting up materials recovery facilities and doubling its allocation for garbage collection and street sweepers to make them a bit more efficient, its problems will never depart if the volume of garbage that we produce is the same. Also not departing are floods, pollutions and water-borne diseases that, unfortunately, take their toll on us.

We have long heard of the 3Rs in solid waste management – reduce, reuse, recycle – but its seems only a few are responding (the fourth R) to the call. A lot fewer are even refusing (the fifth R, or shall we put that first in line?) to use what can become potential garbage and avoid producing waste. We had not heeded the call because many of us thought it could mean more work and more cost. But looking at its resulting ill effects, which is more laborious and more costly?

We also had not heeded the call because we are afraid that only us might be responding while others are not, thus putting to waste any contribution that we can make. But isn’t it that we all want a clean environment? Isn’t it that we all want to pay less garbage fee? Isn’t it that we all want to stay healthy and avoid hospitalization? Isn’t it that we all want to walk or drive along neat streets? Isn’t it that we all want an end to destructive floods? Isn’t it that we all want to uphold the common good?

If we wish to make Iloilo City a livable city, then we should seriously look at its public realm – that space that we all share – and find out how are we contributing to the common good. We all share the same space – the same realm – and if we continue to dirty this space and not doing our share to clean it, we can never solve the solid waste problem and we can never end its resulting troubles.

By Nereo C. Lujan

Posted on March 2nd, 2008

Categories: Reflections
Tags: solid waste