Complaints about the burning of garbage in areas of the Metropolitan Park of Havana are increasing, and residents are becoming increasingly concerned about the health impact of inhaling carbon dioxide.
In several Facebook posts, Yorni Cabrera, a resident of Puentes Grandes in the Plaza de la Revolución municipality, shared a testimony about the pollution landscape that the inhabitants of that area must confront daily.
"!!!They have not cared about the Clínico Quirúrgico de 26!!! !!!They have not cared about the entire community of Puentes Grandes in the Plaza de la Revolución municipality!!! Besides exterminating the ecosystem, flora, and fauna of the Metropolitan Park of Havana," complained this resident, referring to the authorities.
"We are trapped inside the house amid a thick mass of toxic smoke from all the uncontrolled burning of garbage. Thank God we have electricity today to run at least a fan... My mother is having an asthma crisis and I can't even take her to a hospital because if I try to go out, she could choke to death. There is no transportation; our car is out of fuel," he recounted.
Cabrera's complaint is not the first. On Friday, CiberCuba reported on the testimony of music producer Laura Martín Nieto, who also expressed concerns about the smoke from garbage burning in the areas of the Metropolitan Park of Havana.
“This is the situation that has been affecting the central area of Puentes Grandes in the Plaza de la Revolución municipality for several days, after someone had the brilliant idea of establishing a waste-burning site in the areas of the Metropolitan Park of Havana,” she reported on Facebook.
Martín Nieto explained that the burning occurs "just 50 meters from the Clinical Surgical Hospital at 26, in the midst of a densely populated neighborhood of the elderly and children."
"Visible respiratory effects are already starting to be felt. Carbon monoxide KILLS. We do not know the health and environmental cost of burning all kinds of waste. I urge you to share this citizens' complaint URGENTLY!" he lamented.
This complaint joins others that express concerns about the health impacts of burning and accumulating garbage in Havana, amidst a backdrop of public service collapse.
A few days ago, in Lawton, neighbors also reported on the burning of waste in a residential area due to the lack of fuel to transport it to landfills.
From Regla, another resident recounted a similar situation: “They were also burning trash at the sand pit. The smoke was so thick that you could hardly see the bay and Havana, and the smell was horrible. They are killing us little by little.”
A resident of Diez de Octubre said that the city is filled with garbage because there is no daily waste collection. Additionally, the Municipal Services are contributing to the creation of an infectious focal point at their facilities, with emissions of smoke and toxic gases, worsening the general health of the population.
Recently, a complaint sent to CiberCuba accused the municipal government of San Miguel del Padrón of ordering garbage trucks to dump “all the garbage” from the municipality in front of a pre-university school in Havana.
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