MANILA, Philippines -- The Metro Manila Development Authority has unveiled a new weapon against garbage that clogged the river systems and caused floods in the metropolis.

MMDA Chairman Bayani Fernando led the official launching of a fleet of "floating garbage scooters" -- water vessels converted from MMDA?s old and unserviceable motorcycles -- on the Parañaque River near the domestic airport in Parañaque City.

The vessels, fitted with floaters and powered by caged propellers at the rear, look like the airboats used in the Florida Everglades.

"With this innovation, we can speed up the cleaning of rivers in Metro Manila," Fernando told reporters.

With the help of the local government units, Fernando said the MMDA would deploy the garbage water scooters to patrol major rivers in Metro Manila.

"In that way, we could protect the rivers and prevent people from throwing garbage into our waterways," he said.

MMDA has 11 such vessels, put together at a cost of P20,000 each.

Parañaque Mayor Florencio Bernabe welcomed the MMDA's initiatives, saying it will complement their efforts to clear the Parañaque River of garbage.

The vessels will be deployed as part of the MMDA?s ?Oplan Linis Sapa, Iwas Baha? campaign to clear the waterways in the metropolis of garbage that often cause flooding during the rainy season.

Fernando proudly related that the floating scooters were his own brainchild.

?Instead of letting our old motorcycles just rust, I thought of making something useful out of them,? he said, adding with a chuckle, ?I think this is the first of its kind in the world.?

Apart from patroling Metro Manila?s waterways to prevent people from dumping their garbage there, the vessels are designed to push floating garbage to the riverbanks where dredging machines can collect it, Fernando said.

Each vessel can be operated by one person as if he were driving a motorcycle.