Acting Bacolod Mayor Jude Thaddeus Sayson yesterday asked to be given a little more time to cope with the backlog although he said the garbage collection in Bacolod City is already back to normal.

Sayson said they have regularized the collection in the markets since they have borrowed a 10-wheeler truck from the family of Councilor Roberto Rojas to pick up the garbage.

He said the city has 37 dump trucks but only about 27-30 are operational.

With the 10-wheeler truck collecting garbage in the markets, the other trucks are free to cover areas where they have not yet penetrated, he added.

Sayson said the collection of garbage is ongoing in 49 zones out of 61 zones in Bacolod City. They hope to be able to collect garbage in the remaining 12 zones soon, he said.

He said he was informed by the Department of Public Service of the backlog in garbage collection only during a meeting after he took over as acting mayor on November 2, Sayson said.

He said the problem came when the Department of Budget and Management issued an order that they cannot charge some items to the 20 percent Development Fund or the Annual Investment Program.

Sayson said they re-aligned the budget only to learn later on from the DBM that their order will take effect in January.

“We are back to normalcy because we were able to get funds for the gasoline requirement of the dump trucks. They hope to withdraw the same amount today,” he said.   

Based on studies, Bacolod produces 150 to 200 tons of garbage a day. But with the implementation of segregation, this can be further reduced, Sayson said.

He said they are planning to re-implement the “No segregation, no collection” policy once they have the materials recovery facility and the sanitary landfill in place.

Sayson said the mayor is pushing for the privatization of garbage collection and they are just waiting for the Approved Budget for the Contract which will come from the 2012 Annual Budget.

Councilor Roberto Rojas yesterday appealed to the public to dump their garbage properly and not throw them in areas where they should not be dumped.

He said this is not the job of the government only but everyone should help so the garbage problem could be resolved.

Meanwhile, Rojas said the Ad Hoc Committee that was formed to investigate administrative cases filed before the Office of the Vice Mayor, met Monday and has requested the SP to submit some documents so they could start the investigation.*CGS

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