In the dumps…..

​                       Tampilisan, a small piece of paradise in the tip of Zamboanga del Norte, it boasts of luscious greens and beautiful and warm people. It is a place with immense potentials, waiting to be discovered. No doubt, that in the next few years, it shall be one gloriously beautiful and thriving area. However, it seems that at this stage in their development, this municipality has certain things that need to be work out , things that may seem rather insignificant at this early stage in their development, but may grow dangerously out of proportions and bring about deleterious effects if unchecked and un corrected. 
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              August 2017, was a particularly sunny day, which was a welcomed opportunity to visit the municipality’s solid waste management facility or “Sanitary Landfill” situated in barangay Farmington, however, to our surprise we were welcomed by  the stench of an open dumpsite, directly placed atop a river, it was manned by personnel who were not wearing protective equipment. In addition to that, vectors were all over the place. Furthermore, the machine that was supposed to be processing biodegradable waste has been out of commission for the past   ~6months, which is the reason why some of the biodegradable waste that have been collected has not been processed thus, hence, attracting more vector and parasites. Now, taking into consideration the fact that this area  often experiences heavy downpours especially during the rainy seasons, which is likely to result in seepage from the waste that have been dumped in the area thus,  contamination of the water directly below it. We are looking at a high probability that the dumpsite personnel and all those living in the vicinity at risk for vector borne, parasitic and communicable diseases, which may give rise in an increase in the number of people getting sick and seeking consult, which also means an increase in the economic burden already experienced by the people due to medical care. Having this in mind, along with other possible scenarios that may arise in the future, all three groups assigned in Tampilisan agreed that something should be done, now while things are still rather manageable.

                     At present the matter has been discussed with the community preceptor who agreed that this would take all three groups working hand in hand with the RHU and the LGU in coming up with a solution for this. We all realize that this will be a huge undertaking, nevertheless, we are all prepared to take a step forward to ensure a safe and healthy Tampilisan and we all are excited to see how things will turn out.  

​Mary Midette Repoldion
Adzu-SOM Level 4