MMDA collects 1,200 tons of trash from esteros

MANILA, Philippines - The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority cleared 1,200 tons of garbage from eight esteros or waterways in only four days, MMDA chairman Francis Tolentino said yesterday.

Tolentino said a total of 173 truckloads of silt have also been dredged from the eight creeks by the MMDA’s Flood Control and Sewerage Management Office. The clearing of the creeks is part of the agency’s “August Estero Blitz” cleanup drive, which started Monday.

“Imagine the volume of waste that has been clogging our drainage,” said Tolentino. “Accumulated garbage and silt limit the carrying capacity of waterways, resulting in floods during heavy rains.”

The MMDA started with the the Tripa de Gallina and Sta. Clara waterways that straddle the cities of Makati, Manila, and Pasay. MMDA workers collected 35 truckloads of waste along the 10,933 meters of these waterways.

Next to be cleaned was the 12.80-meter wide Estero de Quiapo in Manila, where 33 truckloads of waste were dredged and collected.

Last Wednesday, clearing crews of the MMDA collected 29 truckloads of garbage from the Estero de Pandacan, also in Manila.

At the Pinagsabugan and Longos creeks in Malabon, the MMDA collected 76 truckloads of garbage and silt last Thursday.

Yesterday, the MMDA cleared the R-10 Open Canal and Spine Creek in Navotas City.

A total of 8,128 informal settler families live along these eight creeks, the MMDA said.

Tolentino earlier said the agency’s cleanup drive will run until Sept. 8. The MMDA said it intends to clear two esteros each day.

The “August Estero Blitz” is an offshoot of the MMDA’s 480-minute cleanup drive last July 24, in which 8,000 MMDA personnel and volunteers cleaned Metro Manila’s eight identified flood-prone areas.