When animals die in alarming numbers due to a similar culprit, something has to be done. Sincerely. Swiftly.
Another dead whale was found dead on Sunday at the shoreline of Matina Aplaya where the coastal road project is being constructed at the moment. The culprit is a common enemy—plastics.
The dead whale is the fifth recorded death in 2019. If that is not alarming, what is?
Check out these numbers. There had been 63 dead whales and dolphins in the Davao Region in the past decade alone, according to environmentalist Darrell Blatchley who has lived in Davao City long enough to count the deaths of these poor species in such a short time. Of the numbers reported, 48 of them died due to ingestion of plastics. Four of the poor animals were pregnant when found dead.
Now this leads to the question what the government is doing about the problem of plastic wastes as these are the main culprits to deaths to animal life in the waters.
Year in and year out, kilos after kilos of wastes are fished out of the waters of Davao by pro-environment missions. The vicious cycle of improper waste disposal continues. People continue to throw plastics everywhere which ultimately find their way into the oceans.
The Davao City government is not amiss in finding ways to improve solid waste management but the problem will continue if people do not change their habits. It should start from every resident, every household of the city to develop that mindset of thinking about the ill effects of improper waste disposal.
For local legislation purposes, it is high time to push for the citiwide total ban on single use plastics, a legacy ordinance that must be passed.
