723 tons of waste collected in Cebu City

CEBU, Philippines – Over 700 tons of garbage have been collected by the Department of Public Services in the aftermath of Christmas revelries in Cebu City while at least 70 people have been issued with citation tickets for violating the anti-littering ordinance.

Grace Luardo, head of the Cebu City Environmental Sanitation Enforcement Team, lamented that most people left their garbage in open spaces where they had a family picnic to Christmas.

“Hugaw kaayo sa Colon sa kadaghan pud sa namaligya. Uban pud nagkaon-kaon sa mga plaza pero gibiyaan lang ang mga basura. Kon mopatuo lang unta nga dili maghugaw-hugaw, dili mag-inarogante, tungod kay gusto lang gyud ta og limpyo nga ciudad,” said Luardo.

Luardo said 78 violators have been caught and were issued citation tickets from December 24 to 25. Luardo said that the garbage collected by DPS personnel included paper flecks from firecrackers used during the Christmas revelries.

Luardo said all CESET personnel were required to work during the Christmas holidays. They were deployed 24 hours in crowded areas like Colon, Plaza Independencia, Plaza Sugbo, and Sugbo grounds at the South Road Properties.

“Full force mi tungod kay kami tanan sa CESET nagtrabaho, 24 hours working by shifts and deployed in the entire city. CESET personnel were designated in priority areas such as crowded places,” she said.

Those who were issued citations violated the anti-littering ordinance, the most common violations are throwing garbage, urinating, and smoking.

Luardo said she is expecting the number of violators to increase as soon as the reports from the different barangays are in.

Engineer Rolando Ardosa, DPS chief, said 723 tons of garbage was collected by his personnel from December 24 and 25.  He is, however, expecting the volume to increase in the coming days because the garbage collection schedule will already return to normal.

Garbage collection was only until 10 p.m. during Christmas instead of the usual 24-hour schedule. — (FREEMAN)