Proper waste disposal to help mitigate floods

Garbage in Borromeo Street (File Photo)

With the rainy season expected to come soon, the state weather agency and the environment department are calling on the public to help minimize flood risks by practicing proper waste disposal to prevent trash from clogging the city’s drainage system.

The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) said heavy rains experienced in recent days in Metro Cebu was caused by localized thunderstorm activity. Pagasa is forecasting two to three storms this month.

Chief Meteorological Officer Alfredo Quiblat Jr. of Pagasa Mactan Weather Station said that there is still time to declog canals and waterways as Metro Cebu is still in a transition period of one to two weeks before the onset of the rainy season.

“Last year, rainy season started on June 10, we are expecting that by middle of June this year,” said.

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources Central Visayas (DENR-7) Regional Director Isabelo Montejo said that proper segregation of solid waste must be strongly implemented as it could help mitigate flooding in Metro Cebu.

Segregate

“We need to properly segregate our garbage since mostly they are thrown at canals and creeks that caused flooding whenever heavy rains come,” said Montejo.

“We need to have the political will to implement the ecological solid waste management. This will not only lessen the possibility of flooding but can lessen up to 70-80% the garbage we dump at our landfill,” said Montejo.

Cebu City has started implementing the “no segregation, no collection” policy earlier this year. Violators have been meted fines and repeat violators have been sued in court.

Quiblat explained that they have set the criteria to determine the start of the rainy season — the direction of the wind and the accumulation of rainwater in monitoring stations located at the western part of the country.

Summer ends, according to Quiblat when the direction of the wind shifts from east to west or the Pacific Ocean to the West Philippine Sea and the five of the 10 rainfall monitoring stations record 25 millimeters of rainfall per day for five consecutive days.