By Bong Pedalino

MAASIN CITY (2 October) -- About 5,000 households and offices living within the 15 barangays of this city start their day today, October 2, a Monday, with the segregation of garbage foremost in their minds.

According to a widely circulated schedule, collection of garbage in this city from Monday to Saturday starting today will follow certain colors, and garbage collectors were reportedly under strict orders by the city government through the Office of the General Service (OGS) not to collect those not following instructions.

Mondays and Thursdays are for compostables or bio-degradables, and the assigned color for this one is green. Tuesdays will be for recyclables, and the color is yellow. Wednesdays are for residuals or non-biodegradables, and the color is red.

Fridays will be for hazardous, infectious, and toxic wastes, and the color is black. And Saturdays are for bulky wastes, like tree trimmings, and construction debris, and the color is blue.

In the month-long information drive conducted by the OGS and the PIA down to the Purok level in the barangays, many residents complained about having to buy colored containers or pails to satisfy the requirement for color items on particular days.

But OGS Head Benjase Lumen said the use of ribbon or any slight indication for the color of the day would suffice, so long as the scheduled garbage is followed.

Lumen also said the city government was just giving flesh to the provisions of Republic Act 9003, or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act, a law passed some three years ago, when the LGU undertook strict implementation procedures.

This developed as the city received a cease and desist order in November, 2005, to refrain from dumping its wastes at the garbage site in barangay Combado, but the city managed some consideration provided it embarked on a forced waste segregation plan, Lumen added.