BAGUIO CITY November 12 – Mayor Mauricio G. Domogan said the arrival of the eight new dump trucks purchased by the city government from a Korean supplier will contribute in improving the collection of garbage in the city’s 128 barangays and effectively and efficiently address the city’s solid waste management woes.
However, the local chief executive admitted that the new dump trucks which were recently delivered would still be subjected to inspection and acceptance by the Commission on Audit (COA) before the local government will be able to use the same for its prescribed purposes, particularly the hauling of garbage in the different barangays.
“We are elated that the dump trucks arrived on time so that we can maximize their use during the expected increase in the volume of garbage during the Yuletide season due to the projected increase of visitors wanting to spend their well-deserved break in the city,” Domogan stressed.
He revealed the 8 new dump trucks will be in addition to the existing 14 dump trucks that are being used by the city government in the daily collection of garbage in the different barangays.
According to him, the P30 million budget that was used to purchase the 8 new dump trucks was sourced out from the annual budget of the local government this year in order to further improve the collection of garbage in the city’s 128 barangays.
Based on the latest waste analysis and characterization survey (WACS), the city is now producing more or less 402 tons of garbage daily with almost 300 tons classified as biodegradable waste while the rest are either non-biodegradable or residual wastes.
Part of the city’s biodegradable waste is being converted to compost fertilizer by the operation of the two multi-million Environmental Recycling System (ERS) machines which are based within the premises of the closed Irisan dumpsite while the city’s residual wastes are the ones being hauled out by a private contractor to the engineered sanitary landfill in Capas, Tarlac.
Domogan reminded local residents to continue practicing the segregation of garbage at source to make it easier for the garbage collectors to haul the city’s waste from the identified collection points that will be subsequently delivered to the staging area in Puguis, La Trinidad, Benguet for its hauling to the Tarlac landfill.
He added that the city government will continue to purchase additional dump trucks so that the old trucks that were purchased by the local government in the early 1990s will be replaced by new ones so that there will be no untoward interruptions in the collection of waste around the city during the scheduled collection days.