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BY MAE SINGUAY
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BACOLOD City – The Solid Waste Action Team (SWAT) has stopped apprehending violators of the city’s “no segregation, no collection” policy.
Vice Mayor El Cid Familiaran, head of SWAT, said members of the Solid Waste Enforcers Educators Team (SWEET) have yet to undergo training for apprehension.
SWEET members are the ones tasked to catch the violators.
Familiaran said Republic Act 9003, or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 200, requires all apprehending officers to undergo training before conducting arrests.
Familiaran said he already informed Mayor Evelio Leonardia about the matter.
He added that he will meet with other SWAT members on Jan. 15 to discuss the matter. Familiaran will also write the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) a letter requesting its personnel to facilitate the training.
For the meantime, SWAT members will document the violators, like take photos of them.
Familiaran said they must follow the provisions of the law so that “nobody will question them in the future.”
Last week, the Sangguniang Panlungsod approved a resolution enjoining all Bacolodnons to support the observance of the National Zero Waste Month this January.
The resolution – which was authored by Councilor Em Ang – challenged SWAT.
Familiaran said there are a lot of people in Bacolod who still lack discipline, especially in complying with the solid waste management program of the city.
A 2016 DENR report showed that households in Bacolod generate an average of .69 kilograms of waste daily.
The amount of generated waste rises to 1.17 kilograms per day in January, the report further showed.
“There is a need for Bacolodnons to work together in raising environmental awareness and observing waste reduction in attaining the Zero Waste Bacolod City,” the resolution said./PN
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