The Metro Manila Development Authority on Saturday resumed its Manila Bay cleanup operation and collected at least seven truckloads or 34 tons of garbage.
Two hundred street sweepers coming from different areas of assignment gathered as early as 7 a.m. at the southbound lane of Roxas Boulevard near the US Embassy and started cleaning the bay.
The activity, an initiative of MMDA chairman Danilo Lim, aims to promote environmental consciousness, with agency employees leading the way as eco-warriors.
“The Manila Bay cleanup activity is part of the MMDA’s 43rd anniversary celebration and we intend to continue this for the remaining Saturdays of the month,” said Francis Martinez, head of the MMDA Metro Parkways Clearing Group.
Among those collected were bamboo poles and driftwood which had been carried by currents from nearby fish pens; water hyacinths, plastics, household waste, and all sorts of garbage thrown indiscriminately into esteros and creeks.
Martinez described the floating garbage as eyesores in Manila Bay, which is among the popular places in the city known for leisure walk and for viewing the sunset.
“We keep on reminding the public to dispose their garbage properly because like here in Manila Bay, our trash will just be thrown back by big waves during heavy rains,” he said.
The cleanup was joined by workers of the Manila City Government, which also provided the dump trucks.
The collected garbage was hauled to Pier 18 for delivery to the sanitary landfill.
On Nov. 3, MMDA workers collected eight small dump trucks of garbage equivalent to 27 tons during the first Manila Bay cleanup activity.
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