City asked to study privatizing garbage collection system

THE Department of Public Services in Cebu City is asked to study privatizing the garbage collection system so that the city government could reduce its garbage management cost.

Councilor Nida Cabrera, the environment committee chairperson, said that privatization might save the city millions that it’s now spending on the acquisition of garbage trucks and gasoline among others.

Concerns on the city’s appropriation on its garbage management was discussed after the City Council’s budget committee members questioned the P100.2 million appropriation in the 2013 executive budget for motor vehicle outlay.

MAYOR’S REQUEST

The mayor’s request is in addition to the P102.96 million appropriation for 2012 which Rama used to acquire brand new vehicles for the barangays.   Of the 2013 request of P100.2 million, a total of P79. 2 million will be spent on the acquisition of 36 units of mini dump trucks for distribution in the barangays and estimated to cost P2.2 million each. The remaining P21 million will be spent on brand new vehicles for Citom and the city police.

Aside from the maintenance cost of its trucks, the city is also paying P700 per ton of garbage that it disposes to a privately owned landfill in Consolacion town. The city produces about 300 tons of garbage daily.

STUDY

Engineer Dionisio Gualiza, DPS head, told the council during Wednesday’s session that he already did a study on the privatization of the city’s garbage collection system in 1990 and picked barangay Guadalupe as a pilot area but this was never implemented.

He said that part of his study then was on the privatization of the garbage collection system at the Carbon Market which then produced 40 tons of garbage daily.

Gualiza assured the council that he would consider looking into their proposals of already privatizing garbage collection in the city./Chief of Reporters Doris C. Bongcac