MANILA, Philippines — At least 68 dump trucks of garbage, equivalent to 330 tons, were collected along the route of the Traslacion, the annual procession of the Black Nazarene, the city government of Manila said yesterday.
The amount, however, was much lower than the 387.4 tons collected last year, city public safety chief Kenneth Amurao said.
“The six hours that was saved because of the early conclusion of the procession and the implementation of the ‘zero vendor’ policy along the route of the Traslacion led to the decrease in trash,” he told The STAR.
The procession last Thursday took 16 hours compared to 21 hours last year.
Public safety personnel, who stayed at the tailend of the procession, collected 14 dump trucks of garbage from the Quirino Grandstart to Ayala Boulevard alone at around 10 a.m. Thursday. The procession started at past 4 a.m.
Food packs, empty water bottles and cartons comprised most of the items left behind by devotees.
Amurao said the collected garbage was immediately taken to the city landfill.