The organizers of the regional sports competition will not take responsibility for gathering the tons of garbage that will be left behind by 6,500 athletes and 20,000 spectators. Ten major sports venues for the 19th Central American and Caribbean Games, to take place Nov 23 to Dec 7 in the Salvadoran capital, will produce more than 4,500 tons of garbage, according to official calculations.

“Some 30 tons of waste will accumulate each day at each of the 10 competition sites in San Salvador,” Jorge González, director of sanitation for the municipal government, told Tierramérica.

In the “Olympic Village” alone, which will house 6,500 athletes from 30 countries, the San Salvador Organizing Committee 2002 (COSSAL) predicts 75 tons of organic waste to be produced in the 15 days of the competition.

And the amount of garbage produced by the 20,000 spectators, who will be staying in hotels and other lodgings throughout the capital, is difficult to predict.

But one thing is sure: “We don't have the money to collect all that waste,” acknowledges COSSAL general manager Juan José Gómez.

Faced with that panorama, the local government estimates the garbage collection costs at 35,000 dollars, and announced that it will provide four garbage trucks, two sweeper trucks and 40 people to take responsibility for gathering the waste at the competition sites.

The Central American and Caribbean Sports Organization does not take into account environmental quality standards when it designates the host country for the Games.

Twelve urban stadiums were brought up to standard this year for the sports event. Other sites include the northwestern Coatepeque Lake, a private ranch and a stretch of the Pacific coast, where rowing, equestrian and triathlon events will take place, respectively.

“Food will be served in plastic containers and purified water comes in plastic bottles, none of which are environmental friendly,” Mauricio Sermeño, director of Salvadoran Ecological Unity, said in a conversation with Tierramérica.

Marco Antonio González, an expert from the Center for Appropriate Technology Studies, laments that COSSAL is spending such a small portion of its advertising budget on promoting the reduction and recycling of waste during the two-weeks of competition.

The COSSAL manager asserts that washable dishes and utensil will be used at the Olympic Village, and some 250 volunteers will be cleaning up around Coatepeque Lake.