MMDA urges food establishments to dispose waste properly

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MANILA — The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) on Sunday urged food establishments to dispose their wastes properly to avoid the clogging of manholes and drainages that cause flood during heavy downpours.

Director Tony Abayon, of MMDA Flood Control, said that some establishments are also dumping untreated waste water directly from their kitchen including used oil and grease into the drainage system.

He added that they must also treat their waste water before dumping it into the drainage system.

He said that in the past few days, the flooding along Mother Ignacia in Quezon City was due to build up of grease coming from the kitchen of some restaurants in the area.

“May mga report tayo ng pocket flooding at hindi mo malaman kung ano ang dahilan dahil kalilinis lamang at inaayos. ang MMDA at DPWH nag tutulong tulong pero ang pinaka matinding discovery nitong nakaraang linggo, ung sanhi ng pag baha dito sa may scout area dito sa may Mother Ignacia at kung siguro sa may ibang mga lugar pa. ang dahilan ay may mga sebong namuo,” Abayon told during the agency’s weekly radio program.

The MMDA official said that the management of the restaurants should have grease trap and proper disposal of their waste.

“Ang principle ng grease trap ay ang mga langis ay nasasala. bale ang lumalabas lang duon sa grease trap ay tubig lang talaga. kaya lang minsan ung iba nag titipid kaya may grease trap lang kungwari kaya ang lngis ay nasasama parin papuntang drinage,” he explained.

Abayon said the management of some restaurant along Mother Ignacia has cleaned-up their drainage with the help of the DPWH and the agency but should fix the connection to the creeks along Tomas Morato towards Scout ToBias in Timog up to Quezon Ave.

and the agency will coordinate with DPWH to connect from Timog towards Scout Tobias.

“Halos experience namin sa buong Metro Manila naka encounter namin lahat ng problema namin sa drinage na yung mga nabubuong sebo sa ating mga daluyan ng tubig ay isa sa mga dahilan ng pag babara. Ngayon, ang una naming ginagawa ay sinusulatan ng concern ang mga establishment na icorrect nila ang kanilang pag tatapon ng waste water sa drinage na kelangan walang kasamang sebo. Ngayon pag nakita ulit na hindi sila sumunod sa aming directive, sila ay ipapatawan ng penalty o kaya irerecommenda na namin sila sa city hall for closure,” he explained.

Offenders should be wary of the penalties:

First Offense -warning

Second Offense – Php 2,000- Php 5,000

Third Offense – Php 5,000 or higher and closure of the establishment

He said that grease coming from restaurants , food chains and other eateries is also one of the reason why Metro Manila easily submerged after heavy rains.

He said that this has been the problem in Metropolis and the local government units should monitor the management of restaurants on their waste disposal as he called on the local government for their support in the agency’s drive by conducting frequent random inspections on food establishments and chain of eateries in their respective areas to ensure that they comply with the requirement.

“Problema talaga sa buong Metro Manila. dapat coordinted din sa mg LGU dahil sila din ang nag bibigay permits para mag operate ang mga establishments, ang ang aming personel medyo kulang para mamonitor ang mga establishments na yun,” he noted.

The MMDA official reiterated that besides garbage,grease that finds its way to the sewers has been traced to be one of the prime causes of heavy flooding due to the inability of the flashfloods to flow freely to the inlets.

Instead of using chemical enzymes to remove the grease which is more costly, the government only requires food chains, eateries and restaurants to use “grease traps’’ to ensure that they do not spill into the sewer.

The MMDA will focus on flood control, sidewalk clearing and traffic management this rainy season.