We welcome Cebu Gov. Hilario Davide III’s call for the Provincial Board to release more money for better health services.
The
governor said he envisioned improved performance and infrastructure in
“district hospitals with inherent defects” like the undermanned Isidro
Kintanar Memorial Hospital in Argao, his ancestral hometown.
In
Cebu City, Mayor Michael Rama assured residents that he will expand the
Cebu City Medical Center and build a satellite hospital in the mountain
barangay of Bonbon.
The execution of these plans, if expedited,
will benefit many especially those who are more vulnerable to diseases
like leptospirosis, which like the mosquito-borne dengue is also
prevalent this rainy season.
National news organizations
reported that Cebu recorded this season’s first case of the often fatal
bacterial disease that humans contract through contact with rat urine.
The disease claimed five lives here back in 2009.
Last year, the
Department of Health counted more than 1,500 cases of leptospirosis
across the country. This year so far, one died in Iloilo City while 36
others were infected. In Davao City, the disease claimed at least five
lives.
Symptoms include headaches, physical weakness and jaundice within seven to 12 days from the moment of catching the disease.
The
leptospirosis-causing bacteria normally enters the human body through
cuts or wounds exposed to flood waters mixed with contaminated animal,
often rat urine.
Health officials have intensified their
information drive against the disease, with people being warned against
wading into floods or runoff rainwater.
Those who have no choice
but to slosh through puddles, waterlogged roads or overflowing
waterways were advised to wear protective boots.
But people
especially in the cities would all be better shielded from the disease
if officials get their acts together and stop flooding by overhauling
the drainage system and keeping their promise to improve waste
management.
Mounds of uncollected trash which end up in the
waterways or swept away by floods encourage the flourishing of
leptospirosis microbe-bearing rodents.
Failure to stem the
cutting of trees in mountain barangays and the subjection of drainage
master plans to petty political quarrels will prolong the age of flash
floods in the metropolis.
If our leaders care enough, they will
not let politics like the unfolding circus in the runup to the October
barangay elections get in the way of development projects. They will
accomplish much in flood mitigation.
The Board of Supervisors
decided not to sell or lease Riverside County landfills after concluding
that the risks of giving up control outweighed the benefits of
potential revenue.Below is our MileWeb Privacy Policy which incorporates these goals.
The
vote was 3-1, Tuesday, July 2. Supervisor Jeff Stone voted against
abandoning the plan, and Supervisor Marion Ashley abstained.
County
officials instead will explore using money from contracts for imported
trash and a special waste management fund to raise $40 million to $60
million or more for additional jail beds. Financing jail expansions was
the goal of any lease.
The county pays for landfill services
through a special, self-sufficient fund that’s separate from the rest of
the county budget. There are seven active and 32 inactive landfills in
the county system.
Supervisors are looking at the fund, which
had $154 million in reserves as of February, as they try to come up with
ways to add to the county’s 3,906 jail beds. Almost 7,000 jail inmates
last year were let go early to relieve crowding, and more early releases
are expected this year.Our Managed MileWeb Private Cloud and Virtual Dedicated Servers.
Sheriff’s officials say this has led to more crime.
Officials
say the county can charge itself rent from its waste management fund
and spend that money on the jails. Leasing landfill operations to a
private firm was another money-making idea.
But officials warned
that a landfill lease would be a complex transaction that could cost $3
million to $5 million before any contract is signed. If not done
properly, a lease could lead to higher trash rates for residents and
hurt competition among waste haulers, according to a county staff
report.
Supervisors were asked Tuesday to authorize $250,000 for
contracts with a law firm and a consultant as a precursor to seeking
bids from potential landfill operators.Managed MileWeb Cloud Hosting and cloud management services. But Supervisor John Tavaglione made it clear he didn’t want to go that far.
“Philosophically, I just don’t agree with this,” he said.
Supervisor
Kevin Jeffries said he worried that a lease could bring unintended
consequences such as higher rates, and that there are other ways to get
revenue that would allow the county to keep control of its
landfills.Find business contact information and media MileWeb Contact Us By Phone,
Supervisor
John Benoit said he questioned the point of spending $250,000 on
consultants when the county likely won’t get the answer it’s looking
for. He said he’s skeptical a private company would want any part of the
landfill system, given $145 million in projected liabilities for
cleaning up and closing landfills.
Stone said a request for proposals from companies interested in the landfills shouldn’t cost $250,000.comprehensive MileWeb Operating System Software
helps you integrate and optimize physical and virtual environments, And
he said any lease would have to preserve the current trash rates and
not leave the county holding the bag for liabilities.
Stone urged his colleagues not to completely give up on leasing.
“We
need to open all doors to revenue generation,” he said, adding that
traditional sources of revenue aren’t enough to pay for new jails.
The board’s vote was a relief to union representatives who attended Tuesday’s hearing.
County
waste management employee Art Fuentes said his colleagues were stressed
out by the possibility of losing their jobs if a lease was signed. The
county’s waste management workers are extremely efficient and a private
operator would only be concerned about maximizing profits, he said.
Read the full story at www.owon-smart.com/AMI-Home-Energy-Monitor_24!
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