WHEN it rains, even ever so lightly, Iloilo City’s streets turn into instant swimming pools. Clogged sewers are the main culprits.
Every now and then the city government dredges some of them but this is not enough. The challenge is how to keep people from making sewers their trash bins. And what’s the city government doing in line with this?
Stubborn litterbugs. Inept public officials. These are responsible for the constant flooding in the city. Uncaring people clog the waterways while our public officials sleep on the job, particularly in enforcing local and national laws against the illegal dumping of garbage.
The callous practice of dumping discards wherever people please, from cigarette butts and other tiny litter to bagful of mixed refuse, is a major cause of rapid flooding after heavy rains. There must be an ecological management of discards.
Discards thrown in streets, canals, creeks and rivers ultimately end up clogging the watercourse, disrupting the flow of rainwater, and turning low-lying areas into filthy pools that can harm and even kill humans and animals, damage properties, spread water-borne diseases and lead to economic losses.
If littering and dumping remain uncontrolled, the routine clearing and dredging operations which are essential steps to mitigate flooding during the rainy season will be pointless. We call on all barangay councils to exercise effective leadership in educating and mobilizing people towards the environmentally-sound management of their discards for tidier, healthier and more vibrant communities.
The ecological management of discards is a critical component in any complete flood prevention and management program. Individual, family and community participation is the key to its success. And it all starts with one simple action: stop the indiscriminate dumping of trash.
