Davao City has over 5,000 unused trash bins – COA

MANILA, Philippines – The Davao City government purchased thousands of trash bins in 2016 as part of its solid waste management program but 40% of the units worth P107 million have remained unused since then, the Commission on Audit (COA) said in a report.

In a 2019 report released on May 11, COA said that its auditors discovered that 5,444 units of unused mobile garbage bins have been stockpiled inside the compound of the City Environment and Natural Resources Office (CENRO) Motor Pool located in Maa, Davao City, for the last 4 years.

The unused trash bins include the following:

• 3,959 units of 660-liter bins at P23,954.04 each – P94.83 million 
• 463 units of 360-liter bins at P15,050.18 each – P6.97 million
• 1,022 units of 240-liter bins at P5,842.46 each – P5.97 million

The COA report said that in 2015, the Davao City government forged an agreement with the Land Bank of the Philippines for a P600-million loan to purchase 12 garbage compactors, 13,566 mobile garbage bins, and to modify the city’s 7 garbage compactors.

The purchases were made in 2016, under Davao City-CENRO’s Solid Waste Management Program. 

Unwieldy

Based on their interview with CENRO personnel, members of the audit team found out that garbage collectors were averse to using the biggest type of garbage bin as they were difficult to handle.

“Garbage collectors dread the 660-liter bins which account for nearly 73% or 3,959 units out of 5,444 idle bins. This type requires the manpower of at least 4 persons to unload or transfer its contents to ordinary garbage trucks,” the audit team said.

The biggest trash bins were supposed to be handled using garbage compactor trucks that have loading features, but the audit team learned that on any given day, only a maximum of 9 garbage compactors are in operation.

Under the city government’s 10-year Ecological Solid Waste Management Plan, the mobile garbage bins were to be deployed and replace the ones that break down. 

The units were meant for deployment in strategic locations such as special events venues and public schools and for cleanup drives after disasters, and for coastal cleanup activities as well.

The audit team said that the guidelines were not followed.

CENRO’s response

The Davao City CENRO, for its part, agreed with COA’s recommendation to step up the monitoring of damaged and/or unserviceable mobile garbage bins; and identify new areas as additional collection points where the unused bins would be deployed.

The big trash bins will also be assigned to garbage compactors, and CENRO will look into requesting the purchase of more garbage compactors to handle the big bins. 

COA said in its report that the garbage bins have a 5-year shelf life, and would be considered “fully depreciated” or would have zero monetary value by 2021, even if they’re unused.

Back in 2016, when the trash bins were set for delivery, CENRO officials had said that the deployment of the 660-liter bins would deter residents from throwing their trash elsewhere, since the containers were big enough to hold a lot of garbage. – Rappler.com