Various people from Nicoya and Samara know that the colonial city's garbage dump collapsed 12 years ago. Efforts to solve the "stinky" problem didn't work and the Ministry of Health has closed the dump twice. However, it appears that this time the Municipality of Nicoya is looking for a final solution. The Municipality decided to begin the technical closure to diminish the environmental impact, and to create a recycling center to reduce the quantity of refuse that is sent to the dump. |
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Twenty years ago, the dump was located in Curime, but the population growth made it necessary to look for a bigger site. Today the dump is located on a 2.5 hectare property, three kilometers northeast of the city. Daily, the garbage trucks collect some 30 tons of trash that come from Nicoya and Samara.
Since 2004, the municipality of Nicoya has been burdened with constant sanitary closure orders by the Ministry of Health, along with an order from the Constitutional Court to initiate the process of technical closure. On February 21, 2008, the Ministry of Health placed closure seals at the site, but days later the mayor at the time, Bernardo Vargas, authorized continued depositing of refuse at the site.
Since then, mayors have come and gone but the only thing they have achieved is authorizing more time to avoid technical closure. Time has passed and the situation worsens.
A new awareness
With the passing of the years, the increase in the quantity of waste and the massive appearance of plastics and other materials that are slow to decompose have increased social awareness and led to stronger commitment to the conservation of the environment. As a consequence, the municipality has changed some practices for depositing solid wastes.
Elizabeth Fernández, in charge of the Municipality's Office of Environmental Management, said that 110 million colones ($220,000) was included in this year's budget to perform the technical closure. To further strengthen it, she indicated that the Municipality has contracted with two professionals to assist with the different stages of the technical closure.
"The integral handling of the solid wastes of the canton of Nicoya is a project with two fundamental axles: the implementation of a center for the recuperation of recyclable materials, and an environmental education program to create public awareness. |
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We are paralleling the collection of recyclable wastes with the opening of a collection center. Because of this, we are preparing the citizens to initiate a culture of separation of their garbage. With this, we will be freeing up the garbage dump," explained Fernandez.
But what will happen with the thirty tons of daily waste when the dump is definitely closed? To date, the town council doesn't have a property to substitute for the current dump. Even though in 2009 they bought a new property at a cost of 150 million colones ($300,000), located next to the current dump, this property can't be utilized. It sits above aqueous mantel that cannot be contaminated. No environmental studies were performed before closing the purchase of this property, and now the property is a problem that no one wants to address.
Elizabeth Fernandez said that, regarding this theme, the mayor Marco Jimenez is working to solve the problem. He seeks to purchase a different property that can substituted for the current one. "It would be a property where a real sanitary landfill could be constructed," explained Fernandez.
On June 10, the newspaper La Nación made known that 280,000 inhabitants of Guanacaste have serious problems in getting rid of the garbage that they produce due to the lack of sanitary landfills in this province.
Facing the shortage of alternatives, the municipalities try to give extensions to the orders from the Ministry of Health and the Constitutional Court to close or improve the current garbage dumps.
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