Artemisa towns converted into landfills due to lack of fuel

The communities of Artemisa are converted into huge landfills due to lack of fuel to collect waste in the different popular councils of that municipality but also in the urban area.

“Garbage is not collected here and we have a population of 6,500 inhabitants. The town is becoming a generalized dumping ground,” said Raúl Agustín Palenque Acevedo, a resident of the José Martí Popular Council, as reported in an article in the local newspaper.The Artemiseño.

The lack of spare parts, the low availability of vehicles, added to the lack of fuel, worsens the scenario throughout the municipality.

"The fuel deficit, approximately a month ago, determines the difficulties in the collection. Given the great reduction in the allocated amount, we only collect the urban area: main arteries, hospital, schools and day care centers, when we have the liquid," said Roberlando L. De Guevara, director of Comunales.

Those who live in interior blocks must move their garbage to the micro-landfills that become large waste deposits when the car takes days to clear those places, which implies a health risk as it constitutes an ideal habitat for rodents and potential mosquito sources. .

Waste abounds in urban areas and even more so in rural areas, where they used animal-drawn carts to collect garbage, but "but they all went there."

Of the 26 cart drivers, only six remain because the rest "resigned en masse," since they earn 1,000 pesos a month and must pay 400 pesos in social security and other taxes, and "the bill obviously doesn't add up," said the manager.

Although they tried to provide the service with vehicles in the communities, it only lasted a short time due to the serious fuel crisis that prevents the means available to the community services from operating.

Added to the fuel deficit is the poor technical availability of the vehicles, since they only have one car -Zil 130- to undertake the collection because another of that type and a tractor are under repair, and the specialized garbage truck is stopped. due to lack of rubber.

That reality, however, is not exclusive to Artemisa, as the fuel crisis prevents garbage collection throughout the country.

Havana It has also been flooded with garbage where thesituation worsensdue to the large number of debris from the ruined buildings.

Solid waste also overflows the streets of the city ofGuantanamo, where around 1,200 cubic meters of waste are generated daily, but only 400 or 600 cubic meters are collected per day, a third or a little more of the accumulated garbage.