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SINGAPORE : With the big countdown parties came the big mess, but clean-up efforts started as soon as the parties ended.
Less than 10 minutes after the fireworks ended at the Esplanade, mechanical sweepers came in to clean up the mess.
The National Environment Agency (NEA) said it's using four such sweepers to clean the party area.
But that's not all. More than 115 cleaners were also deployed by both the NEA and the Esplanade management. Their task is to quickly clear the 1.7 tonnes of rubbish left behind.
"When there's food and all those drinks mixed with all those paper and plastic bags, it's more difficult for us to clean up. We need to clear the rubbish first, then we need to wash up the whole place," said Lim Yee Chang, Resident Manager of Chy Thiam Maintenance.
The mess was left by some 160,000 party revellers during the countdown party on New Year's Eve.
Although 40 additional bins were placed throughout the party area, not everyone used them properly.
Besides rubbish, the 'wishing spheres' that dotted the Singapore river must also be removed.
The 5,500 spheres, with New Year wishes written on them by Singaporeans, form part of the countdown celebrations at Marina Bay.
The job of clearing the spheres was carried out by the same group that installed them. But familiarity with the job is not without its challenges.
"(By the time) it comes to retrieving them, most of us are very tired already, after several days of working day and night non-stop, installing the spheres. Then it also depends on the weather. If the weather is bad, that works against us but we still have to work. And (there might be) strong currents sometimes," said Nicholas Ee, Managing Director of MD Daniel Enterprise.
Once the spheres are retrieved from the river, they will be thrown away. - CNA /ls
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