• CHRYSEE G. SAMILLANO
The Bacolod Sangguniang Panlungsod is directing the IPM Construction and Development Corporation (IPM-CDC) to intensify garbage collection and to promptly clear piles of uncollected garbage in major thoroughfares and in and around the MassKara festival sites.
The resolution authored by Councilor Em Ang said Bacolod City is celebrating the MassKara Festival and thousands of foreign and domestic visitors and guests have arrived to join the festivities.
There are complaints over the uncollected garbage or delayed collection of trash in commercial establishments in the city’s downtown, major thoroughfares frequented by visitors and at the surrounding areas of the festival sites, it said.
The influx of tourists and festival goers results in the large generation of waste, and can negatively affect the local environment because of the visitors′ activities, the resolution said.
The unsightly piles of garbage negatively affect the image of the city as a tourism destination, and inefficient solid waste management may reduce the tourism value of the colorful and highly-acclaimed MassKara Festival, it added.*
