Mayors voiced frustration over green waste separation requirements at the Mayors’ Council of Guam special meeting on Wednesday, as they are being asked to identify which storm collected green waste and other debris came from.
With green waste still piled up from Typhoon Sinlaku, mayors were told any new debris from Super Typhoon Bavi must be kept in a separate pile — a request met with skepticism.
“Are they serious about separating Bavi green waste and Sinlaku green waste?” Dededo Mayor Peter Benavente asked. “This is not a circus.”
The response from Piti Mayor Jesse Alig, president of the MCOG, did little to reassure him: “Sorry, that’s what I was told.”
According to Alig, the distinction is necessary for reimbursement from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
“The idea is that you cordon off your Sinlaku green waste and create a separate pile for your Bavi green waste, the justification was the FEMA reimbursement,” Alig said.
The logic, however, didn’t make sense to some mayors, who contended residents don’t wait for the paperwork to catch up to their debris removal needs.
“There’s no curbside pickup. And if you want to add up the cost for heavy equipment, knock yourselves out, because you’re gonna need a whole lot more than what we’re gonna have to go do curbside pickup,” Alig said.
“The people are not going to wait. If their washer fell during the flood and they want to get rid of it, you can’t tell them, ‘Oh, you should have gotten rid of that in Sinlaku,’” he added.
Mayors noted for the record that debris from Typhoon Mawar is still waiting to be picked up, along with debris from Typhoon Sinlaku.
Alig acknowledged the frustrations but asked mayors to plan around the requirement to avoid being stuck with debris.