People are dumping fridges in Jaro River, city officials say

By Rjay Zuriaga Castor

The city government of Iloilo is set to reassess its clearing operation strategies along the Jaro River after officials noted that the volume of solid waste recovered from the waterway remains minimal.

General Services Office head Engr. Neil Ravena said the office will regroup its teams and coordinate closely with the City Environment and Natural Resources Office and barangay officials to improve the effectiveness of the cleanup operations.

Ravena said he has already called for a meeting with CENRO and other concerned offices to reassess their strategies and ensure that the impact of the cleanup activities becomes more visible.

“The recovery, accomplishment of solid waste in Ticud and the Jaro River is small. We need to regroup so that at least we can see the impact. If you can see in the picture, there are many areas that we need to clear,” he said on Monday, March 16.

The Jaro River begins at the confluence of the Tigum and Aganan rivers near Barangay Pagsanga-an in Pavia, then traverses about 23 barangays over seven to eight kilometers, affecting the districts of La Paz, Lapuz, City Proper, and Jaro before reaching the Iloilo Strait.

The Jaro River is one of the major waterways in Iloilo City and has long been identified as a critical flood control corridor. Accumulation of solid waste in the river reduces its carrying capacity, increasing the risk of flooding during the rainy season, which typically begins in June.

The GSO has identified several priority areas where large volumes of waste accumulate, including Tabuc Suba, Cubay, and the Ticud-Baldoza area.

Ravena said the city is working to improve access in these locations so that garbage trucks can reach the sites and retrieve larger volumes of waste from the river.

On Saturday, Ravena said only about 1.5 tons of waste, equivalent to two truckloads, were collected from a waterway in the Ticud boundary of Baldoza and Tigum.

The cleanup was conducted after a photo of garbage piles in the area circulated online.

“That is still so small. That is just one fourth of the total that is in the Jaro River,” he said.

For this year, the city government has recovered about 12 to 15 tons of garbage from different sections of the Jaro River.

Among the items recovered were sacks and plastic bags filled with mixed waste, which Ravena described as “frustrating” because they appeared to have been deliberately thrown into the river.

“For some people, the Jaro River is their disposal site. That indicates that they intentionally threw it at the river,” he said.

Ravena added that some of the waste may be coming from upstream communities, including barangays in Pavia, as well as areas in Tacas, Simeon Ledesma, and Tabuc Suba.

The GSO has also ordered an investigation into a section of Tabuc Suba Ilaya, particularly junk shops in the area, after debris from discarded appliances such as refrigerators was found in the river.

One of the main challenges in the recovery efforts, Ravena explained, is the double handling of garbage, where waste must first be transferred from the river into containers before being transported to an area accessible to garbage trucks.

Ravena commended barangays that have installed screening devices along waterways to trap floating waste before it reaches other parts of the river and eventually the coast.

“We have to recover and clear it from our waterways before the rainy season because it will impede the flow of water in our river, and it will cause flooding, and this goes back to us as a disaster if we irresponsibly dispose of our waste,” he said.

The city government is planning at least two major clearing operations this week to remove larger volumes of garbage from the river.

Ravena added that while the city government will facilitate waste collection, barangay officials will play a key role in monitoring and maintaining the cleanliness of their respective waterways.