• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
Twelve local government units in Negros Occidental have been named as finalists for the 2023 Provincial Search for the Best LGU Compliant with RA 9003 or the Ecological Solid Waste Management (SWM) Act of 2000.
The finalists in the city category, as identified by the provincial government of Negros Occidental, are the cities of Escalante, Sipalay, San Carlos, Sagay, Cadiz, and Bago, while the finalists for the municipality category are EB Magalona, Murcia, Manapla, Candoni, Calatrava and Pulupandan.
They were named during the 4th quarter PSWMB-TWG meeting spearheaded by the Provincial Environment Management Office, which was held on November 16 at Calatrava.
The search for compliant LGUs in SWM is an incentive program of the provincial government, which aims to provide a structured framework for the 31 LGUs of Negros Occidental, to manage their solid waste systems effectively and efficiently.
It is also aimed at encouraging active participation from various evaluators who will provide constructive and positive feedback on the SWM practices implemented for each LGUs being evaluated annually, as well as serve as a benchmarking opportunity for sharing and adopting the best SWM practices from each other.
The Provincial SWM Monitoring Team will have its final deliberation of finalist LGUs on Nov. 23 and 24 at the Provincial Capitol in Bacolod City.*