GENERAL SANTOS CITY — The city government is pushing for the full implementation of the ban on open burning and a local ordinance that regulates the use of plastic bags and expanded polystyrene food services containers.
This, as the local government has activated a technical working group (TWG) that will spearhead city-wide awareness campaigns on the targeted rollout of the regulatory measures starting next year.
Teresa Naranjo, TWG member, said Wednesday they had set a series of campaigns to help raise awareness and promote proper compliance among local residents and concerned establishments in the city.
She said they had partnered with the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) for the awareness drive, which would focus on the negative impact of open burning and the use of plastic bags and related materials.
The campaign would kick off on Dec. 10 with an “Awareness Fun Run to Stop Open Burning” that would be led by city officials and personnel, she said.
She said the city government would also formally launch Ordinance No. 03 or the “Ordinance Regulating the Use of Plastic Bags and Expanded Polystyrene Food Service Containers in the City of General Santos.”
The ordinance, which was passed in 2014, prohibits the use of plastic bags as packaging materials for dry goods and regulates its use on wet goods.
It also bans the use of expanded polystyrene or styrofoam and other similar materials as containers for food and products.
Business establishments and individuals are prohibited from “using, selling and providing plastic bags to consumers as secondary packaging materials on wet goods; using, selling and providing plastic bags to consumers as packaging material on dry goods; and, using, selling and providing styrofoam/styrophor as food service containers,” it said.
Violators could face a fine of P5,000 and possible revocation of business permit to operate for businesses as well as one year imprisonment at the discretion of the court.
“Some 800 enforcers will be deputized by Mayor Ronnel C. Rivera on Dec. 10,” Naranjo said in a statement.
She said each of the city’s 26 barangays would have at least 20 deputized enforcers.
Local shopping malls, groceries, public markets, and other business establishments in the city have expressed support to the implementation of Ordinance No. 03, she said.
As part of the campaign, Naranjo said they would hold a one-day seminar workshop on Dec. 11 on the new integrated solid waste management program of the city.
On Dec. 12, she said the city government, Environment Management Bureau and UNIDO would unveil the central materials recovery and composting facility at the city sanitary landfill site in Barangay Sinawal. (PNA)
