400 tons of trash to be cleared

Littering fine raised to P5,000 in Metro

MANILA, Philippines —  With up to 400 tons of garbage to be cleared from the Redemptorist water channel in Baclaran, Parañaque, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority dispatched yesterday the MMDA’s trash skimmer to fast-track the waste collection efforts.

The trash skimmer, a mechanical device that scoops up floating waste to deposit into a collection bin or container, is used along with the manual cleanup operations in the creek, MMDA said.

As of 3 p.m. yesterday, the MMDA had used 96 trucks for the garbage collection.

This is equivalent to 418.4 metric tons of waste and debris collected from the area since Monday.

“We will not stop until we clear the Redemptorist Channel and other water channels that have garbage problems,” MMDA general manager Nicolas Torre III said.

He stressed that discipline and cooperation from citizens are needed to manage the situation, as the government continues to make waste disposal systems efficient.

“We are appealing to our fellow citizens to cooperate by not adding to the stress on the system as the government carries out these efforts. Properly disposing of even small pieces of trash will help speed up the rehabilitation and improvement of our surroundings,” Torre added.

MMDA Chairman Don Artes said the Metro Manila Council has approved a resolution to increase the fines for the anti-littering law to P5,000 in Metro Manila cities and P2,500 in Pateros.

“We are awaiting the individual ordinances of each city. We will follow it up in the next MMC meeting,” said Artes.

Bernardo Amurao, Parañaque City environment and natural resources office chief, said the cleanup would be completed in two to three days.

“We should not be blaming each other anymore. We should just be helping one another,” Amurao told dzMM yesterday.

He noted that that the cleanup is slowed down because of heavy traffic, noting that the collected trash is brought to San Mateo in Rizal.

To help speed things up, the MMDA and the Department of Public Works and Highways have designated Tripa de Galina in Pasay as a point where the collected trash can be dumped before a contractor collects it.

“I hope we learn waste segregation and not throw garbage in creeks and rivers. If you dump garbage the wrong way, whenever there’s rain and wind, that will return to Manila Bay and for sure, the trash that you throw will return to you,” Amurao said.

The garbage emerged this week as Metro Manila was battered by monsoon rains. – EJ Macababbad