PIRMADO ni Alkalde Nelson Legacion an Executive Order No. 2021-032 na nagbilog sa Task Force Paputok 2021 na mapaotob kan mga panundon kan gobyerno lokal asin mga ahensiya kan gobyerno sa pagpabakal nin mga paputok.

Nagkapira nang street vendors an nag-pahayag nin interes na magtinda nin manlaen-laen na klase nin paputok na pigtutugot ipabakal sa merkado basado sa R.A. 7183. Sakop kan nasambit na ley an pagpabakal, manufacturing, distribution, asin pag-gamit nin paputok asin iba pang pyrotechnic devices.

Segun ki Renne Gumba, Public Safety Officer, obligado an mga matyenda nin paputok na mag apply nin permit asin lisensya sa Bureau of Fire Protection asin Philippine National Police. Apwera pa kaiyan, an mayor’s permit asin iba pang dokumentos na nagtataong permiso asin sertipiko na magtyenda.

Dugang ni Gumba, imbitado an mga firecracker vendors na mag atendir sa mga orientation seminars kan lokal na gobyerno manungod sa mga rules and regulations na maninigong sunudon.

Si Gumba asin si Market Superintendent Ramon Florendo an namamayo sa pigbilog na pwersa, kaiba an City Health Office, City Environment and Natural Resources Office, City Treasurer’s Office, Naga City Police Office, Department of Interior and Local Government, City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office asin Bureau of Fire Protection.

Pigsabi pa ni Gumba, arog kan mga nakalihis na holiday seasons sa gilid kan Naga River harani sa Naga City People’s Mall an pigtaong lugar sa mga vendors na mapabakal nin paputok.

An mga paputok asin pailaw na pigtutugot ipabakal basado sa ley iyo an mga minasunod:

• Baby rocket
• Bawang
• Pulling of Strings
• Paper caps
• El Diablo
• Watusi
• Sintoron ni Judas asin
• Kwitis

An mga pyrotechnic devices o pailaw na pigtutugot na ipabakal basado sa ley iyo an:

• Sparklers
• Luces
• Fountain
• Mabuhay
• Roman candle
• Trompillo
• Airwolf
• Whistle device
• Butterfly asin iba pa.

What a highly urbanized city like Naga should do to reduce its garbage of more or less 93 tons (average of 42 to 60 dump trucks) every day?

The LGU Naga’s Solid Waste Management Office (SWMO) has been adopting a waste diversion strategy to be able to achieve the planned 10-15% residual waste. Residual waste materials are the ones left once the recyclable or compostable wastes have been separated.

Engr. Joel Martin, head of SWMO, said that he is expecting that with WACS approach (a contraction for Waste Analysis and Characterization Study) the city’s waste diversion effort will further be improved as more waste will be properly identified for recycling and composting.

WACS serves as a tool to identify constituent materials which comprise solid waste generated and disposed of within an area. It identifies constituent materials by volume, percentage in weight or its volumetric equivalent, material type and source of generation which includes residential, commercial, industrial and institutional.

“Thru WACS we can be able to determine and analyze the component of waste that increases and decreases, an important thing to consider in the implementation of our waste diversion project,” Martin said.

At present, the SWMO is engaged in the conversion of residual plastic into liquid fuel as part of the strategy to reduce waste resources being dumped into the sanitary landfill.

There are 3 more initiatives being undertaken by SWMO as part of its diversion project:

⦁ Conversion of biodegradable waste into compost like food-waste
⦁ Conversion of coco fiber into charcoal or rope which is being placed on top of the landfill as anti-erosion engineering
⦁ Manufacturing of hollow blocks contained with shredded plastic which can be used in the construction of horizontal structures

Martin said the LGU, in partnership with Central Bicol State University of Agriculture (CBSUA) has begun to explore the possibility of manufacturing tiles made of plastic and other waste materials designed for outdoor use.

Post-pandemic scenario

In an interview, Mayor Nelson Legacion said the waste diversion project is also being undertaken in anticipation of the days to come when business operations in the city, which were affected by the pandemic, will become vibrant again.

“We can expect to double the volume of our waste by the time Covid-19 ends due to the presence also of new businesses,” he said.

The SWMO, which continues to improve its mining of recyclable waste resources, has called on the Nagueño to constantly practice the segregation-at-source approach.

Legacion said that: “If you can segregate waste at source, it is like winning half the battle. The best part of the approach is that neither it costs you anything nor does it take time. Only you need to behave responsibly to achieve the goal of waste segregation. To boost the activity of waste recycling, it is a basic necessity to focus on waste segregation that helps to identify the degradable and non-biodegradable components of the waste.”
The SWMO has 359 environment watch volunteers in the city’s 27 barangays who assist in the collection and sorting of recyclable waste.

NAGA CITY — The LGU Naga and the Central Bicol State University of Agriculture (CBSUA) in Pili, Camarines Sur will be working together in developing a technology that will help achieve the zero-waste management in this city.

Once ready, the method will be implemented at the sanitary landfill (SLF) in Barangay San Isidro, here, which is being ran by the LGU thru its Solid Waste Management Office (SWMO).

In a memorandum of understanding signed by both parties on Monday, April 5, the LGU and the CBSUA as represented by Mayor Nelson Legacion and SUC President Alberto Naperi, respectively, have agreed to collaborate for the realization of the plan by performing their respective tasks as enumerated in the agreement.

Mayor Legacion said that he felt jubilant about the project as it will further improve the LGU’s approaches on orderly and systematic disposal of garbage aside from the livelihood opportunity that it will create for individuals engaged in collecting, sorting, and cleaning plastic waste and other resources.

Among the CBSUA responsibilities: conduct consultative activities with the SWMO that aim to identify the concerns and their corresponding solutions so that the zero-waste goal will be achieved.

The learning institution shall also conduct research to be able to provide technical assistance to SWMO including the utilization of its extension and internship programs if only to achieve the purpose. It shall also conduct joint research activities with the city government in the field of agriculture and allied courses e.g. Agriculture and Bio-systems Engineering.

Naperi said they will introduce in the project the principle of circular economy, a system which is aimed at eliminating waste thru continual use of resources that promotes reuse, sharing, repair, refurbishment, remanufacturing and recycling, thereby minimizes the use of resource inputs and the creation of waste, pollution and carbon emissions. 

“The circular economy aims to keep products, equipment and infrastructure in use for longer time, thus improving the productivity of these resources,” he said.

It is also included in CBSUA’s to-do things the extending of assistance to the LGU when it comes to sourcing funds and/or provide financial counterpart, when needed, for the implementation of the projects and activities;

Coordinate with other development partners in the implementation of projects/activities and conduct participatory monitoring of the project’s impact and results including the recommendation of solutions to the problems and constraints identified, and allow city government officials/employees to attend trainings/seminars/waste-related research activities for free.

The city government, on its part, shall provide the CBSUA with necessary assistance in gathering data/information relevant to the projects/activities identified by both parties; provided that any document/information that may be obtained by the CBSUA or any of its officials, faculty members, staff and students shall require consent by the LGU when so used and adopted for any purpose;

Make available for use and research identified facilities like, but not limited to, the sanitary landfill, waste treatment ponds, etc., provided that the rules and policy must be observed and followed, and;

Accept officials, faculty members, staff and students of CBSUA for research extensions, student and faculty immersion, and monitoring and evaluation activities, and ensure safety of the CBSUA students while conducting activities.

The provisions under the agreement shall be in force for 5 years unless otherwise terminated for cause by any party who need to notify in writing the other party at least 3 months before the planned termination.

NAGA CITY— In its desire to zero in on waste plastic materials to boost the city’s campaign for balanced ecology, the LGU here has partnered with the Ocean Bound Plastic Recycling Philippines, Inc. to be able to reduce the volume of plastic wastes in the city.

In a memorandum of agreement entered into by and between the 2 parties, the plastic waste will be recycled into useful resources by the development entity popularly known as the Plastic Bank Philippines.

A plastic bank ecosystem website said that there are roughly 5 trillion pieces of plastic sloshing around the world’s oceans and an overwhelming number comes from the world’s poorest countries where proper disposal or recycling is largely impossible. The project aims to reverse the trend while simultaneously alleviating poverty.

Naga City has been chosen as one of the pilot areas in the Philippines for the implementation of the plastic bank ecosystem, an award-winning program, that started in Canada now being implemented in Haiti, Ethiopia, India and other parts of the world.

The program aims to revolutionize recycling by way of creating a sustainable, inclusive, and circular plastic economy capable to provide income and livelihood to communities engage in waste plastic collection.

Among other responsibilities, the memorandum mandates the LGU to provide counterpart funds in establishing the city-wide plastic bank ecosystem, assist in the conduct of socio-economic profiling and validation of target project resident-beneficiaries, allocate local government properties where possible facilities required for the project;

Mobilize other office of the LGU to assist other social entities e.g. schools, religious or civic organizations to support the project, undertake the development plan in accordance with the approved 10-year Solid Waste Management Plan; designate a technical working group to supervise and inspect the phase by phase implementation of the project, and promote the Plastic Bank Code of Conduct in the implementation of the project.

On the other hand, the Plastic Bank Philippines agrees to provide counterpart funds for incentives, capability and capacity building measures required for the full implementation of the project, conduct social preparation, community organizing, and capability building for intended beneficiaries e.g. onboarding and formation, baselining, incentives and reward-tiering, and documentation.

Submit to the LGU quarterly reports on the development of the project and commit that all plastic wastes are to be collected and sold under the project through the concerned resident-beneficiaries and accredited partner branches.

NAGA CITY — Three aerator machines and a submersible sewage pump were installed at the wastewater treatment plant of the sanitary landfill in Barangay San Isidro, here, to see to it that the water from the garbage facility is safe enough to be released to the Naga river.

Engr. Joel Martin, head of the Solid Waste Management Office, said aside from removing the contaminants from the wastewater, the machines would also be of help to mitigate the emission of foul-smelling air from the facility’s wastewater treatment plant.

The SWMO was assisted by the City Engineer’s Office and the General Services Office in setting up the aerators that each, including the pump, has 3 horsepower. The aerators and the pump were connected separately to 3-phase electric power system.

Martin said the delay in the installation of the machines, which were procured by the contractor from abroad, was due to the inclement weather that has been experienced for the past weeks. He said the pandemic also caused delay in the purchase of machines, a situation that made the treatment plant to cease operations for several weeks.

“That [situation] explains why there was unpleasant smell emitting from the area that lasted for a number of days,” Martin said. The SWMO, however, is using bio-deodorizer or eco-friendly odor eliminator to soothe the bad small, sometimes its personnel cover the garbage with soil.

The SWMO head said that with the installation of the machines, emission of noxious odor from SLF will be a thing of the past and one can expect also that the hazardous particles and elements in the water coming out of the treatment plant will be removed, thereby making the wastewater safe enough to be released to nearby Yabu creek.