DPWH hauls 30 trucks of garbage from Manila Bay on 1st day of desilting job

MEN AND MACHINES After an army of garbage-pickers descended on the Manila Bay coastline recently, a fleet of heavy equipment arrived on Tuesday for a follow-up job. —Marianne Bermudez

MANILA, Philippines — About 30 truckloads of trash were collected by the Department Public Works and Highways (DPWH) during the first day of its “desilting works” in Manila Bay, one of its directors said on Wednesday.

DPWH Bureau of Equipment Director Engineer Toribio Noel Ilao said the piles of trash were collected along the Manila Bay starting from the seawall up to 50 meters off the sea on Tuesday, and the scope will expand to 150 meters in the succeeding days.

READ: Manila Bay rehab enters mechanized phase

Desilting works of DPWH pertain to the use of a fleet of equipment composed of amphibious excavators, dump scows, dump trucks, debris segregator, and various groups of street sweepers and vacuum sewer jet cleaners.

Ilao also admitted that rehabilitating Manila Bay is not an easy task due to the amount of trash that needs to be cleaned.

“Medyo challenging po yung trabaho na ito, itong programa na ito para sa mga kagawaran,” he said in an interview with Radyo Inquirer 990 AM.

Despite this, he said that the clean-up drive along the stretch of Manila Bay would help ease the garbage problem in the area even before the rainy season comes.

Ilao also noted that water condition in the area continues to improve since the kickoff of the rehabilitation program of the government last January.

The “desilting works” of DPWH would cover at least 22 hectares of Manila Bay.

“May kabuaan po tayong 1.5 kilomers from the US Embassy until sa Manila Yacht Club. Tapos pamula po sa seawall, bibilang pa po tayo hanggang sa dagat ng 150 meters. Lumalabas po mahigit 220k squre meters or 22 hectares,” Ilao  said.

The DPWH aims to finish its disilting works within 90 to120 days, Ilao said. /jpv