ILOILO City — Faced with lengthy public spaces that are difficult and time-consuming to clean manually, the Iloilo City Government has deployed a P3.5-million electric mini sweeper truck to accelerate cleanup operations along the Iloilo River Esplanade, Sunset Boulevard and public plazas.
The new equipment is intended to reduce reliance on manpower and reach narrow and linear areas where the city’s larger sweeper truck cannot operate efficiently because of space and access limitations.
City General Services Office (CGSO) head Engr. Neil Ravena said the mini sweeper will augment — not replace — manual cleaning crews as the city expands and maintains more landscaped and high-use public spaces.
“The reason why we purchased the electric mini sweeper truck is to speed up the cleaning of the long and numerous linear parts of Iloilo City,” Ravena said.
He said cleaning these areas solely through manpower takes considerable time, especially because workers must also attend to landscaped portions.
“It takes time if we rely only on manpower because we also have landscapes that we need to maintain. It is not only manpower that we lack, but also the time needed to clean these areas,” Ravena said.
The electric mini sweeper simultaneously sweeps and vacuums waste as it travels through public spaces, including corners and other areas that may be difficult to clean manually.
“After sweeping, it also vacuums the area that it passes through and brings the collected waste directly to the collection areas,” Ravena said.
The unit has six arms, with sweepers positioned underneath, in front and along the side, allowing it to cover different portions of roads and public spaces. It can collect up to 1.6 tons of waste.
The city currently has only one electric mini sweeper, but Ravena said he is already seeking additional units to broaden the coverage of mechanized cleaning operations.
“For now, we only have one unit, but I am already proposing for additional units because one will not be enough to cover all the areas that need to be cleaned,” Ravena said.
The P3.5-million equipment was purchased using the city’s financial benefits from Panay Energy Development Corp. (PEDC), particularly its share equivalent to one centavo for every kilowatt-hour of electricity generated by the local power producer.
Ravena said the acquisition forms part of the city government’s continuing effort to make its cleaning operations more efficient while complementing its existing workforce.
“This will help us make our cleaning operations faster and more efficient, especially in areas where our bigger sweeper cannot operate,” he said./PN