DPS: Cebu City is cleaner now

Cebu City is cleaner now after implementing measures to address the city’s garbage problem, said the Department of Public Services.

"Karon duna mi nadawat nga positive feedbacks. In fact, ang head namo naka-recognize nga the city is much cleaner right now," DPS Assistant Head John Paul Gelasque said.

Mayor Tomas Osmeña has also seen the improvement and commended the DPS for its performance in addressing the garbage problem.

"DPS is working harder than ever before and for the first time in our history, we are collecting 24 hours a day, every day," he told The FREEMAN

Last October 3, Pasajero Motors Corporation (Pamocor) started running at least 11 dump trucks and compactors collecting the trash from barangays to a private-owned transfer station.

Based on the terms of reference, the city government rented the heavy equipment from October to December this year which will be running 24 hours a day.

Gelasque said Pamocor has been observing the 24-hour operation based on their daily monitoring.

"Okay raman, they have been operating 24 hours gyud. If naay maguba nga sakyanan, ilaha man dayon ilisan," Gelasque said.

Since Pamocor started its operation, they made sure that the heap of garbage piled along the city streets from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. are fully collected and disposed properly.

Other than this collection scheme, the city government and DPS last week launched the so-called "Operation Hotspot" where street cleaners, garbage loaders and Barangay Environmental Officers conduct cleaning operations at the identified hotspots areas in the city.

These hotspot areas are those areas where the public can see tons of trash being piled up and are too visible for everyone to notice. Most of those identified areas are in the downtown area. The team is also distributing brochures detailing that they are no longer allowed to dispose trash at certain areas. The brochure also has the collection schedule.

The public is also advised to contact the DPS hotline 0912-4445555, so the team can immediately respond to any garbage concerns.