To dispose of all the garbage in the nation, 350 landfills are registered. The 158 municipalities of the national territory have at least two final destinations of waste each. When independent organizations and specialized agencies study most of them, they are observed in massive disorder with a high presence of microorganisms, hazardous hospital waste, toxic gases, fire-generating materials, bad odors, and hundreds of thousands of disease-transmitting insects and rodents.

66% of the final destinations of Dominican waste occupy the land of high agrological quality. It is also known that 60% of them are located in areas of hydrological importance very close to rivers, streams, and dams.

He added that the vulnerability that prevails in the territory is further aggravated by the population density of Greater Santo Domingo, which is around 2,232 inhabitants/km2 and includes the National District, which has an approximate population density of 11,700 inhabitants/km2.

Landfills represent a large amount of garbage in the country. Whether in the city, near the coast. You can still find one. 350 landfills are registered to eliminate all the garbage in the country. So you may ask yourself, what is its impact?

Well, when we came to analyze this massive mess, we could see a large number of microorganisms, hospital hazardous waste, and bad odors. But that's inside if they don't burn it, well, if they do. A dangerous amount of toxic gases could appear and harm the health of the population. Hence some diseases such as; there may be cancer, skin infections, and various others.

Finally, given that they represent 66% of the Dominican garbage destination, their impact can be concluded and imagined. But some solutions have been considered with our new president; Louis Abinader. Who will close quite a few down, by not allowing them to burn again, mainly on the north coast, with places like; Sosua, Samana.

Samana. The lack of an agreement on the location of land for the construction of a sanitary landfill has made it difficult for the tourist province of Samaná to have adequate solid waste management.

There have been neither one nor two, but five times that the municipal authorities have tried to move this garbage dump, located in the urban area of the city, but they do not know where.

The problem is that the municipal authorities, the hotel sector, community leaders, and society have not yet been able to agree on a point that does not harm the community, does not affect tourism, and is easily accessible for dumping.

The mayor of Samaná, Nelson Rodríguez, explained that the greatest difficulty is posed by the mountainous nature of the province in general, which is why they are exploring suitable terrain in Samaná, Las Terrenas and Sánchez.

"The reality is that the location of the three municipalities is distant, in addition to how mountainous Samaná is, it will be a bit difficult to make a single landfill for the province," he specified.

By order of the government, in 2014 a Sanitary Emergency Committee for the Management of Solid Waste in Samaná was formed, made up of the Ministries of the Environment, Public Health and the Dominican Municipal League, which proceeded to grant a term of no less than three months for the authorities to come to an agreement and relocate the landfill that exceeded its useful life more than two decades ago.

For 2013, the Chamber of Deputies issued a resolution recommending to President Danilo Medina the construction of a provincial landfill for the final disposal of solid waste. But four years later there is still no plan. The closest it came was in 2014, when the Ministry of the Environment located a plot of land for 200 tasks in the municipality of Las Terrenas, but it was rejected.

The administrator of the Samaná landfill, Tomás Baret, explained that later it was proposed to build a sanitary landfill in the following places: Samaná, Sánchez, Barrancolí, Arroyo Barril and El Naranjito, still without reaching a consensus.

“Guaricó is the ideal place to take the waste from the province, because it is strategically located in the center, which will allow Las Terrenas, Sánchez, Samaná, El Limón, Arroyo Barril and the other municipalities to dump. Only Las Galeras would be excluded,” he maintained. Samaná is not among the first municipalities to intervene in the Dominicana Limpia plan.

The infectologist Héctor Balcácer said that as a result of the mismanagement of garbage in landfills, respiratory and infectious diseases such as: leptospira, dengue and malaria are produced. “With the burning of garbage, the air is polluted, with the rains the water and the mosquitoes, flies, mice and cockroaches spread countless vector-borne diseases,” he pointed out.

Environmentalist Luis Carvajal said that the amount of plastic and solid waste that ends up in the Samaná Bay pollutes the waters and the marine species that live there. "The poor management of solid waste is a serious problem in the ecological and environmental importance of Samaná Bay."

Tourism businessmen attribute the relocation of this landfill to a lack of will and political interests.

The president of the Samaná Boat Association, Augusto González, said that the municipal authorities, being from a different party from the ruling party, do not agree and blame each other for the negligence.

“The mayor is from a different party than the president, so there is no coordination. It's easier to blame the City Council or the Government, but the people are the ones who lose out,” he said.

Samaná produces 35 tons of solid waste daily, most of which is generated by 16 hotels, restaurants and warehouses.

Samaná is not among the first eight municipalities to intervene in the Dominicana Limpia plan.

Source: https://www.elcaribe.com.do/panorama/pais/en-samana-aun-no-saben-donde-estara-el-relleno-sanitario/

Los Vertederos and Waste management in Samana