Ecobreves – GUATEMALA: The Capital Turns into a Dump

By IPS Correspondents and - - Reprint | | Print |

GUATEMALA CITY, Aug 1 2005 (IPS) - In the Guatemalan capital some 2,300 tons arrive each day at one huge central dump, according to a study conducted for the city government by the company Guatemalan Environmental Engineering Services. Company executive Christian Seleézar told Tierramérica that around 2,500 independent garbage collectors, known as 'guajeros', work in that dump. They “closely examine it to determine what is garbage and what can be recycled or has some value,” among the material brought there by 520 trucks. The rubbish is ultimately simply covered up with dirt.

Conrado Deguer, municipal environmental advisor, said studies have been ordered to determine what to do with the dump, which is much criticized for the smells emanating from it, and the contamination it causes, including of the water sources that supply the capital.