Notice of a new ruling about burning garbage and leaf material

[Mike J]

20 hours ago, Jack Peterson said:

20 hours ago, bows00 said:

I see several emission check shops throughout the city.  

Yes there are many But one wonders if they do the Job properly, maybe a ticket and a Copy to LTO will prove a success  for failed vehicles 

The last time I went for a smoke check they were doing all the vehicles WITHOUT the engines running.   They had to push one vehicle to get it started.  As it pulled away there was so much smoke coming from the exhaust I thought maybe they were burning coal for fuel. 

[Dave Hounddriver]

14 minutes ago, Mike J said:

As it pulled away there was so much smoke coming from the exhaust I thought maybe they were burning coal for fuel. 

Yeah but I bet the driver was wearing a shirt!

[sonjack2847]

On 6/27/2018 at 7:59 PM, Jollygoodfellow said:

True but I bet there was no murder law once but is now and even though many never get caught there is still an investigation. 

Haha Investigation, police turn up look and say yes he is dead end of investigation, unless somebody pays.

[Queenie O.]

Well there are really no more fixers that work through these emissions testing places, so all vehicles have to be brought to the local LTO office for emissions tests. This has been our recent experience/observation.

As far as burning rules go and other new regulations being made, I think that the place these laws can be best enforced is in urban areas.  Ordinances and ways of doing things here in the province have not changed much since the early eighties when I lived here.  In the past  none, but now we have weekly garbage pickup  Unfortunately you still see folks burning garbage at times which includes noxious plastic bags, and large piles of grass and leaf material. 

Many provincial people still use new and fresh scavanged wood and charcoal to cook all their meals, and at dusk some will burn grass or coconut husks to stave off mosquitoes for an hour or two.  When there is a local paid barangay "cleanup" of roadside grass, citizens are often seen burning this grass right out in the open, instead of bringing them to an area to compost. We compost  and vegetable scraps fruit peels etc. in our yard and it breaks down really fast. No need for burning, but that is a mindset that has not changed for many years. Our neighbors who burn often are seen with red eyes and complain of eye infections, but there is a disconnect somewhere.

I was surprised when a local carpenter was here the other day to build us a new bamboo garden bench. My husband asked him about rattan growing around that could be harvested and he said (I knew) that that was an endangered/protected wood, and now how cutting of many kinds of trees was now being enforced here in our area. He mentioned that a well known barangay councilor we knew was jailed/fined for one week in the local jail by the Department of Natural resources for cutting down some coconut palm trees down without a permit. That's a start, when laws start having some teeth. I'd like to see some local police spend time out in the neighborhoods if only on a informational warning to folks about burning a air quality but that is up to the discretion of local town governments and Mayors that often reside in the city.

Change beyond the city is very difficult, and will take a long time to take hold unfortunately in my opinion.

Edited July 1, 2018 by Queenie O.

[Tukaram (Tim)]

2 hours ago, Queenie O. said:

We compost  and vegetable scraps fruit peels etc. in our yard and it breaks down really fast. No need for burning, but that is a mindset that has not changed for many years.

I asked about composting when I first got here - and got some confused looks.  If we compost our food scraps, what would the dogs, ducks, and chickens eat?    Also, all the farmers around here burn the chaff, after the rice harvest. Composting is just not done...  but our topsoil sure is terrible. 

[RBM]

On 6/29/2018 at 10:51 AM, bows00 said:

I've been in Dumaguete for the past week.  I keep returning to give this place another chance, but the air quality is way too disgusting.  But I am glad we are headed in the right direction, now only if they extend the Law to include vehicle emissions - I see several emission check shops throughout the city.  

What on earth has an emission test to do with air quality?  We have just done rego on 2 vehicles, the engine was not switched on to test. Maybe it can be tested this way, no idea.

Yes Dumaguete air is bad, as is traffic and just way to crowded for me. Valencia, well that's still a little paradise close by.