Some 24 barangay officials from villages along the waterway joined the workshop for Jaro River Clean-Up this month held at Panay Power Training Center, Brgy. Ingore La Paz June 1.
The initiative, organized by City Environment and Natural Resources Office (CENRO) and General Services Office (GSO), was in partnership with Global Business Power, Inc. (GBP).
The activity aimed to educate the participants about ways on how to protect the river and make it safe for people to use through proper solid waste management.
“We must prevent garbage from going into our rivers for this will not only affect water quality but the people living near the area. We don’t want to pollute and totally destroy our rivers that’s why the city conducts this kind of training. As barangay officials, you should encourage your constituents to minimize or stop throwing garbage into the river,” Mayor Jose Espinosa III said.
“The city needs strategies to solve its problems on solid waste management. As you can see, wastes are thrown everywhere, even in the river which causes water pollution,” CENRO head Engr. Noel Hechanova said.
“As barangay officials, you are all gathered to be leaders of your community in protecting our river by simply not throwing garbage in it,” he added.
GBP environment manager Rex Debuque said that after putting waste trap along Hinactacan, La Paz area, a total of 108 tons of garbage were collected April to October last year.
“This is a challenge to all of us. We cannot solve this problem without the cooperation of the residents living near the river. We can’t take our river for granted for this will make us and the future generations suffer,” Debuque said.
“The community must collect and at the same time recycle solid waste. If they recycle, that will prevent non-biodegradable materials such as plastics from getting into the river,” GSO assistant department head Engr. Neil Ravena said.
Topics discussed included physical and natural features of Jaro River, garbage collection schemes, river cleanup initiatives, solid waste management issues and mitigation. (Thessalonia Ordales/Iloilo City PIO)
