A few days before All Saints’ Day, Quezon City authorities said that it has started a massive clean-up of public cemeteries to ensure that they are free from the piles of garbage left by storm “Ondoy.’’

To prevent the stench and the spread of communicable diseases, Quezon City Mayor Feliciano Belmonte said that 120 personnel of the city’s Environmental Protection and Waste Management Department (EPWMD) were deployed at the vicinity of public cemeteries.

The Quezon City government clean-up drive will be concentrated but not limited to the city’s three public cemeteries in Bagbag, Baesa and Novaliches, Belmonte said.

Belmonte ordered that all roads leading to public cemeteries and even private memorial parks should be cleared from garbage piles and debris to ensure a healthy and cleaner environment for the public.

He noted that the cleanliness drive is in preparation for the millions of local residents expected to troop to the memorial parks to honor their departed love ones.

Frederika Rentoy, chief of the EPWMD, said that additional units of dump trucks and pay loaders were dispatched even on weekends to expedite the cleaning operations.

With the unpredictable weather conditions, Rentoy said that EPWMD has also collected garbage not only on the streets but also in canals, creeks, esteros, rivers and other waterways to prepare for any eventuality.

Quezon City clean-up has now covered at least 32 critical areas, especially the communities along San Juan and Tullahan Rivers, which were given more attention as floodwaters have the tendency to suddenly rise in these rivers during heavy rainfalls.