By Emme Rose Santiagudo
The General Services Offices (GSO) of the Iloilo City government scooped more than 90 tons of trash during the two-day highlights of the Dinagyang festival.
According to Engr. Neil Ravena, chief of the GSO’s Solid Waste Management Division, around 98 tons (98,000 kilograms) of trash were collected from January 25-27, 2020 in the main activity areas of Dinagyang in City Proper district.
“On January 25, 2020, we were able to collect 21 tons of garbage and an additional 24 tons during Dinagyang day on January 26. The next morning after the festival on January 27 we scooped 53 tons of garbage,” he said in a phone interview Tuesday.
Ravena said bulk of the garbage, mostly food packaging materials, were collected from the food festival areas.
“Pinakadamo nga na-collect didto sa food kiosks na ara sa Arsenal, Solis, Ledesma, Aldeguer, and Iznart. Ang mga basura mostly food packaging such as plastic cups, paper cups, and paper plates,” he said.
Compared to Dinagyang 2019, Ravena noted a decrease in the volume of garbage they collected after the festival.
“Right after Dinagyang, we collected 72 tons of garbage last year compared to the 53 tons collected this year,” he said.
Ravena said the decrease can be attributed to the fewer number of participating food kiosks this year.
Ravena said the food kiosks, which were made of bamboos, were turned over to the owners, hence, these were not accounted for in garbage collection.
He added that the “kaing” trash bins that were deployed by the city government also helped minimize littering during Dinagyang.
“Dako gid ang bulig sang kaing nga gindeploy sang city kay sang Saturday mismo na-collect na naton dayo ang trash and naempty na naton ang kaing,” he said.
The city government deployed 330 kaing garbage bins all around the city days before Dinagyang 2020.
