Street sweepers lauded for keeping Iloilo City clean during Dinagyang
ILOILO City – Their hard work often goes unnoticed, but the efforts of street sweepers play a significant role in maintaining the cleanliness and orderliness of bustling urban landscapes such as Iloilo City.
With this, the Iloilo City Council passed a resolution commending street sweepers not only for their hard work but also to boost their morale and encourage them to continue their important work.
Councilor Romel Duron authored the resolution lauding street sweepers from the General Services Office, City Environment and Natural Resources Office ( CENRO) and Beautification Team for “painstakingly” maintaining the cleanliness of both the staging areas and the entire city during the Dinagyang Festival 2024.
“It is worthy to recognize the exemplary performance and passion of street sweepers, cleaners, and garbage collectors, in cleaning up the tons of debris on the streets, commercial and judging areas during the weeklong celebration of Dinagyang Festival,” read part of the resolution.
The CENRO said about 100 tons of waste were collected after the Dinagyang Festival highlights on Jan. 27 and 28. The street sweepers began collecting the garbage as early as 3 a.m. on Jan. 29.
Engr. Niel Ravena, CENRO chief, said a volume of garbage was collected in the four judging areas – Freedom Grandstand, lloilo Provincial Capitol, MabiniDelgado, and Quezon-Ledesma.
Ravena attributed the large volume of waste to the presence of kiosks and food stalls for the Dinagyang Food Festival.
The volume of garbage was almost double the number of waste collected in 2023 mainly because of the increase in the number of food kiosks that participated in the food festival and the number of crowds that showed up during the highlights of the festival, the CENRO chief noted.
About 700 food kiosks participated i n the food festival. Of the number, 500 food merchants were stationed at the Iloilo Business Park in Mandurriao district while the remaining 200 spread along the downtown area.
Ravena said they dispatched 17 garbage trucks in the judging areas and major streets to collect the garbage and five water tankers to flush out the debris.
In the resolution, the city council said the city government, through the leadership of Mayor Jerry P. Treñas, envisioned a clean and healthy environment for its people, guests, including tourists who visit the city, and by Ilonggo brand of hospitality at all times.
Several street sweepers were also assigned along the nine-kilometer stretch of the Iloilo River Esplanade and park and the vicinity of Jaro Plaza during the feast of the Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria on Feb. 2, the city council said.
It cited the Clean Tourist City Award the city government received in 2022 from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations ( ASEAN) for its initiative to beautify its public places, improve the environment and sanitation, enhance urban spaces, and promote their natural and manmade attractions.
“The Iloilo City Dinagyang Festival celebration once again proved itself to be the best festival in the Philippines after its successful run this year, which gathered thousands of visitors and tourists to witness the world-class performance of the eight school- based competing tribes last Jan. 28,” the resolution further stated./