Photo Courtesy of PIO
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Volunteers collected 45 tons of garbage from at least 19 waterbodies in Cebu City during the coastal and river cleanup held on Saturday, December 4.
It was already the 6th cleanup organized by the Cebu City Coastal Management Board (CMB) this year as part of city’s initiative to rehabilitate water bodies here.
On Saturday, at least 3, 800 individuals that included City Hall employees and volunteers collected garbage from 19 water bodies in the city. There included the Kamputhaw River, Tinago and Tejero Creeks, South Road Properties (SRP) coast, Guadalupe River, Alaska Mambaling coast, Pasil coast and Bulacao River.
“As of 5 p.m. [on Saturday], as per Department of Public Services (DPS) data, we were able to collect approximately 45 tons of mixed waste. At least 3800 volunteers helped us,” says Reymarr Hijarra, the subcomittee chairperson of the CMB.
Majority of the wastes collected were made from plastic materials followed by biodegradable materials such as leaves and wood.
Hijara said silt and mud deposits also blocked the waterways.
The conduct of coastal and river cleanups in the city was started by Mayor Michael Rama when he was still vice mayor to especially encourage the different communities here to also do their share in environmental preservation.
Cebu City through CMB organized 6 coastal and river cleanups this year and plan to organize more in 2022. / dcb