MANILA, Philippines - It's long overdue but that Quezon City has recognized the cynical practice of some contractors in the pursuit of their business, and acted more seriously to stop it, is good enough even at this late hour.
I am referring to the proposed ordinance filed by Councilor Doray Delarmente of the city's First District which seeks to hold responsible construction firms that leave the premises of their project site in rubbles and disarray after finishing their contract. Elsewhere - and Quezon City in particular - the scattered remains left by contractors after turning over their projects to the owners are a common sight. And it is not only the ugliness of such debris that upsets people - it is the danger that they pose to the public. Very often they are hazards that cause irreparable damage to life and property. Under the proposed ordinance, contractors are bound to clean up, upon completion of the project, the site and its surroundings, of debris, earth mounds, sand stockpiles, open excavations, and other construction materials. Failure to comply with the requirements imposed by the ordinance could cause the cancellation of the business permit on top of the P50,000 fine.
That the problems caused by the trash left by contractors are getting too serious is indicated by the alarm echoed by no less than the Quezon City Engineering Dept. which said they find their way into the city's drainage systems which explains the unbridled flooding woes along city streets and elsewhere. Joselito Cabungcal, Quezon City Engineering Dept. head, has warned of gravel and sand getting into the drainage system, but worse, he said, are plastic materials, rock, and dried cement that impede the smooth flow of rain water. It appears the rainy season has touched off the concern of local government officials as the resurgence of floods all around gets more serious, and in many cases, fatal. And this is observed more readily in Metro Manila, for obvious reasons.
The other day, for instance, the Taguig Solid Waste Management Office launched a zero-waste campaign to "get rid of the city's garbage problem," according to Jim Tarog who is in charge of the community-based activity. Earlier, the Metro Manila Development Authority led by Chairman Francis Tolentino called on city officials to launch their own anti-littering drive to clean up the whole MMDA sphere and jurisdiction of waste, dirt, and litter. Metro Manila as center of trade and commerce and entertainment and, of course, of institutions of higher learning may look clean and sparkling even at first glance, but look again and the squalor - the dirtiness and the beggary and the baseness - are all there longing for the apparently rare virtue of its officials and people to save it. And it can be saved. (zhern_218@yahoo.com)
