In a massive new drive to clean up the city center, Athens municipal authorities will spend 34 million euros on hundreds of new garbage trucks and smaller cleaning vehicles, Mayor Dora Bakoyannis said yesterday.

Sixty new big garbage trucks are expected to arrive next month to boost the campaign ahead of the August 13-29 Olympics, when some 500 extra refuse collectors will be hired. Apart from the 235 vehicles, the municipal authority will buy 5,000 new wheeled bins.

“This is the city’s largest-ever investment in sanitation,” Bakoyannis told a press conference.

The mayor added that municipal officials will also seek to make Athenians more sensitive on matters of public cleanliness, by combining a public awareness campaign with tougher rules against littering — which Bakoyannis insisted will be enforced.

Athenians will be able to call the 195 hot line for further information and to make any complaints concerning the municipal garbage collection system.