Three weeks after tropical storm Ondoy hit the metropolis, more than 36,000 cubic meters of garbage remains to be a big problem in severely affected areas, worsening problems like the spread of deadly diseases like leptospirosis.

Director Ramon Santiago, chief of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority’s Directorate for Special Operations (DSO), said after the clean-up in affected areas, the agency now faces the problem of  transporting the trash from temporary garbage dumps to landfills.

Santiago said they are starting to transport tons of garbage from vacant lots in Marikina City that were converted to temporary dump sites in Barangays San Roque, Nangka, Sto. Niño, and Malanday.

The mountainous garbage will be transferred to existing landfills in Rizal province and Payatas in Quezon City while officials of San Jose Del Monte in Bulacan also offered their landfill, he added.

According to the agency, Ondoy left behind 10 times the usual garbage accumulated in the metropolis. Since the start of the cleanup drive, truckloads of garbage and debris have been hauled and brought to temporary dumpsites using trucks and pay loaders.

Because of the extra-ordinary volume of garbage they have to transfer, Santiago said they are initially trying to transport household wastes, furniture and appliances damaged by the floods using trailer trucks that can carry about six times dump trucks could haul.

Santiago said it could take several weeks to transport the garbage as a result of the agency's extensive clearing operations in flood-hit Marikina City.

To prevent widespread breakout of diseases due to garbage and mud, the Solid Waste Management Office (SWMO) has deployed its personnel to various areas in the cities of Marikina, Pasig and Taguig to sanitize the garbage wrought by Ondoy.

The agency has bought 9 knapsack sprayers for this particular operation and has already consumed around 900 liters of disinfectant.

The areas already covered by the operations are Barangays Sta. Ana, Calzada, Ibayo, and Ligid in Taguig City. The temporary dump site in the Manggahan Floodway and garbage in Barangay Santolan in Pasig City were also disinfected.