MikeLigalig.com

By Rey Anthony Chiu - PIA

  Other than putting up the proper regulations, could authorities deny the scrap metal businesses of place of operations after being evicted from the city?

  The poser surfaced after League of Municipalities of the Philippines (LMP) president and Jagna Mayor Exuperio Lloren committed to act on the matter by bringing the issue to the league of mayors.

  “We want to get the opinion of the mayors so they can tell the league about the operations of these scrap businesses so we can act on it,” he said. 

  The junk industry has earlier been banned in the city following reports that lost multi-million lighting facilities from the city airport have been sold and found in city junk shops, resulting in the city mayors decision to padlock the scrap facilities here.

  With this, junk business relocated to nearby towns, effectively skipping the city ban, but passing the problem to mayors who have yet to act on the matter. 

  Accused sometimes of buying and fencing stolen items, scrap buyers rove around communities bringing in an army of junk collectors, some visibly tugging minors and school children into the lucrative business. 

  Lloren, in a radio interview admitted that the junk business has become a convenient window for fly-by night operators to engage in businesses.

  He said while the business can be consistent with the ecological solid waste management laws, he said it is high time that mayors could decide on what to do with them. 

  Meanwhile, PSSupt Edgardo Ingking, in similar aired interview said he has passed a directive to town cops to keep a tight watch on the scrap buyers relocating in the towns and coordinate with the mayors. 

  Moreover, the police director called facility owners to keep watch of their areas which cant obviously be covered by law enforcement authorities and secured by private guards. 

  This as complaints have alarmed authorities of the daring stealing cases involving snipping of service drop-wires leading to residences and key facilities.

  School buildings, water pumping units, communication facilities and residences have been victims of these new bred of daring insulated live-wire snipping cases; all for the copper. 

  The Jagna Mayor said the best they may be able to do is accredit the shops to eliminate the fly-by-night operators. 

  This way, enforcing control upon the business could be easier, he said.

  Meanwhile, many city residents have aired opinions about totally making the towns inhospitable to the scrap industry, as these have become convenient market for stolen items. (rachiu/PIA)

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You are absolutely right Olintaha.

Scrap metal business is the janitor fish in our city. They are giving us free service of cleaning our city. What we need to do is simply put up strict regulations, penalty system and temporary suspension system, but we can not abolish them.

If we abolish the scrap metal business, our streets will be littered with empty cans and plastics. Then it will be a headache of the municipality to buy more garbage trucks, more garbage collectors and search for a bigger landfill, which I believe is more expensive than the problem and would hurt the tax payer's pocket. I don't think the city's budget for garbage collection is enough for all these unnecessary expenses.

If our city would abolish them for the sake of avoiding metal theft, it is comparable to burning the whole house to kill a rat (quote from Mike Ligalig).

Even rich countries like Saudi Arabia is recycling thier organic materials and selling the fertilizer byproduct. It is a big business here and the gadget is just a size of a cement mixer. You can not just throw away things. Metals are separate, plastic and aluminum also are separate. There is a sorting station. No wonder our streets are very clean.

Moreover, selling scrap metal is a source of money-for-rice to many of our fellow Boholanos.

Finally, let me say that abolishing the scrap metal business is one of the most handy solution and a mentality of Mayors who are not capable of confronting a problem.

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