Waste destroying Sagada as green tourist haven
>> Monday, January 7, 2013
By Gina
Dizon
SAGADA, Mountain Province -- Once an award
winner for being a clean and green municipality, this tourist town is not
anymore, with proliferation of waste in the town’s main streets and
trash dumped on mountain slopes and rivers.
The Vestry of the Church of St Mary the
Virgin said they were not happy with the way the Local Government Unit was
dumping waste down Calvary Hill prompting church authorities
to inform Mayor Eduardo Latawan Jr. that the church shall
close the dumpsite after the Vestry noted waste dumped was not properly maintained
along the steep slopes overlooking Echo Valley, a popular tourist
attraction of the town.
CSMV Senior Warden Patrick Pooten said a
letter of the Vestry sent to Latawan informed the town executive of the
detrimental manner of how the waste was dumped posing hazard to
public health and environmental sanitation.
Pooten said the LGU should segregate the
degradables from the non-biodegradable waste.
“The dumping site is a temporary one while
the LGU establishes a site for a materials recovery facility (MRF)
site yet up to now, there is no MRF yet that the LGU has built,”
Pooten added.
CSMV rector Rev. Prinzel Balitog
said the church could only allow the use of the area as a dumping site on the
first quarter and before heavy rains come next year.
The waste dumped along Calvary Hill
poses environmental threat to the villagers downstream southern barangays of
Sagada when heavy rains fall since waste flows down the river.
Stench of burned non-biodegradable
waste bothered folks living nearby. Vestry members said. The river waters below Calvary
Hill flows towards Uud Creek downstream joining the Bakkong
River where waters irrigate the ricefields of southern Sagada namely Taccong,
Suyo, Nacagang, Ankileng and Payageo. Waters here eventually pass through Malitep
River and join the Chico River.
Waste is collected during Saturday market
days and from other households and hauled by a dump truck specially purchased
from the one million peso prize of the LGU having garnered a
Seal of Good Housekeeping from the Department of Interior and Local Government.
It has been noted that the town’s LGU
has identified an MRF site at an area located down the gasoline
station at sitio Makamkamlis yet up to now, no MRF has yet
been built.
Vice Mayor Richard Yodong during the Sagada
tourism planning activity conducted by the provincial tourism
and planning and development offices , said the LGU still has to purchase
the needed MRF equipment.
Waste mismanagement came up as a major issue
during the said tourism planning conducted Dec. 18 and 19 with the observation
that indiscriminate waste handling poses major harm to the town’s tourism
industry.
Blame it on urbanization, but waste
management, tourism-related trainings and an efficient traffic system
were the identified concerns of entrepreneurs and
tourist guides here in this tourist town following a two- day
planning on tourism held during the holiday season.
The seminar was facilitated by Department
of Trade and Industry, and tourism, planning and development offices
of the province.
With environmental tourism a major
come-on in Sagada, the equal need for waste management was top
concern.
Sagada Genuine Guides Association (SAGGAS)
president John Magwelang said garbage mismanagement will further harm the
tourism industry of the municipality if not checked.
He added there was need to implement existing
ordinances on waste management.
Tourism is a major source of income
especially among the residents of Poblacion.
Heavy traffic jams along narrow streets of
Sagada especially during yuletide season, town fiesta first week of February,
and the Lenten holiday was also cited as a major issue.
Participants noted the need to implement the
LGU's traffic management ordinance.
Also, trainings on tour guiding and tourism
management and an information packet were identified needs projected
for implementation in partnership with the Department of Tourism,
National Commission on Culture and the Arts (NCCA) and other
concerned agencies.
Plans shall be presented to the municipal
tourism council and further included in a provincial strategic planning for
2013, Provincial Tourism officer Francis Degay said.
2 comments:
Poor sanitation standards as well as the absence of building and zoning policies, plus the surge of the growing mass market which have led to an unabated tourism infrastructure, created and it is still does, unfavourable impacts which are now slowly felt by the locals. Despite of tourism’s positive impacts such as the creation of jobs and the increase in household income, like a cake laced with arsenic, it is slowly poisoning Sagada. Take the case of that bumper to bumper traffic along Daoangan during the peak season. Pedestrians could not even get a decent space where they can walk safely. Vehicles in the absence of a traffic jam, rush haphazardly putting the people on the side of the road in danger. Are we in need of road humps or a speed limit in the near future? Daym. Carving out a new road through Tangeb isn’t the solution. What other forms of destruction can we think of in favour of tourism?
I believe that there is a lack of tourism plan, a plan which is supposedly beyond ways to attract more tourists to come and increase financial gains from it. Tourism although being dubbed as the major source of income should basically not twist the dynamics of a society. A community-based tourism such as this is ought to be sustainable. In a place where there are no stringent regulations regarding waste disposal, and seeing candy wrappers among many others everywhere, gives these tourists the idea of how they can also do their fair share of trashing the place. With the lack of policies that could outweigh these adverse effects of tourism and urbanization, these two will just continue to exacerbate the situation.
Hey there everyone, this is sad. I have a thought tho what if we encourage the visitors that the rubish they brought to town they should as well bring it down where the hell they got the garbage. For example in mountaineering they have this LEAVE NO TRACE principle. great day everyone...
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