Work of www.radiofeyalegrionoticias.comOne of the causes of respiratory diseases today is the indiscriminate burning of garbage.When large amounts of waste accumulate in communities, people choose to dispose of waste in this way, however, this leads to serious health problems.This practice is recurrent in various areas of the country.According to a study carried out by the OVSP in January 2021, San Fernando de Apure, Punto Fijo and Barquisimeto are the cities where their waste is incinerated the most.However, measured on a national scale, 19.9% ​​of Venezuelans use this method.This high percentage only shows the poor management of garbage that exists in the country, and the most worrying thing is that, as reported by the organization, the burning is carried out in "unsafe environmental and sanitary conditions."Although burning is not only done to get rid of garbage, it is also an option for "scrap dealers", who burn indiscriminately in order to be able to remove faster all the ferrous material that is left and that they later market.Dr. Dommar explained to Radio Fe y Alegría Noticias that the gases that result from the incineration of waste have a highly harmful effect on health and frequent exposure to these gases can cause from allergic reactions to more severe conditions such as obstruction. pulmonary and lung cancer, the latter cases occur when the level of toxicity reaches its chronic stage.The environment is polluted when there is a burning, regardless of the content of the waste: litter or toxic substances;Of course, if what is incinerated are toxic substances, the level of damage to the body is greater.It should be noted that this type of practice can affect both healthy and sick people.It is warned that in the case of pregnant women it is doubly harmful, since the smoke they breathe goes into the bloodstream and that toxicity reaches the baby through the umbilical cord."This will not only cause respiratory problems in the baby at birth, it can even cause malformations," said Pedraza.People who suffer from cardiovascular conditions and especially those who have difficulty breathing, are also very involved in burning garbage.The crisis in the solid waste collection system has generated an increasing proliferation of vultures in Venezuelan cities.Jokingly, the citizens affirm that they are the new urban cleaning workers.Radio Fe y Alegría Noticias interviewed inhabitants of 11 cities, and in Barquisimeto, Caracas, Ciudad Bolívar, Maracaibo, Mérida, Tucupita and Ciudad Guayana, they made reference to the presence of vultures.Although in some cities they are observed more than in others, these carrion birds have become frequent in all of them.There are those who say that "they already live among us."Mrs. Teresa Centeno, a resident of the Alta Vista sector of Puerto Ordaz, assures that she has already become accustomed to the presence of these animals.“We have to put the garbage here very close and the vultures are always there.That is in the middle of the avenue, the stop is close, people pass by, circulate along that street and practically neither they are afraid of us, nor are we of them.It's like they live among us."In the Unare parish of Ciudad Guayana the situation is similar or worse.Neighbors and merchants must share the streets with garbage and vultures.Specifically in the Unare II sector, the containers are collapsed, although these were placed by the Mayor's Office, only in 2021, they are not enough.The neighbors fear contracting diseases, since the vultures often fly over them.Likewise, they report that it is worrying when they release waste or plumage from above.Experts say that these animals should not spread diseases, but they carry a high bacterial load in their feathers.If we add to this the amount of bacteria and parasites that they can contract from being in constant contact with garbage, they become a risk to the health of any person.José Ángel Chaveros, a virologist doctor, explained to Radio Fe y Alegría Noticias that despite the macabre aspect that the vultures have and all the myths that have been created around these birds, there are more benefits that they can contribute, since they collaborate with the Cleaning by consuming organic waste inside the garbage and thus eliminating bacteria and parasites.Chavero, a member of the Ciudad Guayana Environmental Observatory, reiterates that the vultures are doing the city a favor in the current situation, without an efficient waste collection system.“Without the presence of the vultures, the garbage problem would be much more serious, since we would be in the presence of a large amount of unprocessed organic waste.They eat everything that is food and leave the rest, we could not even imagine the rot that would exist at this time without the vultures”.Of the 20,000 tons of garbage generated in the country daily, only 5% is recycled, as reported by Joaquín Benítez, director of Environmental Sustainability at the Andrés Bello Catholic University (UCAB).In this sense, the engineer Leonardo Pedraza, representative of the Environmental Observatory of Ciudad Guayana, explains that one of the causes that has decreased the practice of recycling is the presidential decree published in the Official Gazette in February 2021, which establishes that cardboard , plastic and other inputs are strategic and vital for the sustained development of the national industry.According to Pedraza, this has caused the authorities "to put many obstacles when moving material of this type and the companies have had to reduce the level of recycling."The expert indicates that another factor that causes the low percentage of recycling is that the waste is not separated.Pedraza explains that in homes people do not separate the waste properly, in addition, a part of it remains in the streets and when it finally reaches the landfills, it arrives in total disorder and it is difficult for more than 6% to be recycled. because everything arrives in bulk.To avoid this and increase the percentage of recycling up to 50%, he recommends applying the circular economy recycling system, which precisely seeks to separate waste from its source.In recent years, ferrous scrap has become a highly commercialized product for people who search through garbage.On the black market, a ton of iron costs an average of 200 dollars.Plastic is another waste that is also marketed in this way.When entering landfills or garbage dumps, such as Cambalache in Puerto Ordaz, you can see groups of people who work daily separating and classifying everything they find.Generally, men collect iron, aluminum and any type of ferrous scrap and women accumulate large amounts of plastic that they also sell by the kilo.In conversation with a couple, who preferred not to reveal their names, we were able to learn that they and their three children live off the scrap metal and plastic they collect in a dump near the entrance to the UD-321 industrial zone in the Caroní Municipality.They say they sell an average of 250 and 350 kilos of iron weekly.The calculation indicates that this practice generates an income of between 200 and 300 dollars per month, if they work from Monday to Monday, at least 10 hours a day.The entire family travels through the place throughout the week, after accumulating a considerable amount of iron, they load it into carts that they themselves have made, and walking they take all the material to a marketer in the Core 8 sector, known as "La Caridad" , this company is responsible for collecting and then transporting the scrap metal to the Guanta Municipality in Anzoátegui state.According to data from Import Genius, a consulting firm that compiles customs records, the income generated in Venezuela from the export of 45,500 tons of scrap metal in 2021 amounted to 55 million dollars.Another form of income that has been generated through the garbage problem is private collection services.In many buildings, urbanizations and communities, the neighbors have had to organize themselves and pay a truck to collect the garbage.This is an inefficient option, since this service consists of taking waste from one place to another.There is no final disposal system for the material, and in most cases, they go to a vacant lot or an open dump and unload the vehicle to continue with their service.Motor vehicles are not the only ones that offer this service, the undertaking of those known as "carrucheros" has also emerged.These people have handcarts, wooden wheelbarrows and handcrafted carts with which they go house to house collecting garbage.The payment for this service, more than anything else, is done with food.Groceries such as rice, pasta, flour, bread, sugar, among others.In Venezuela, the governing bodies in matters of waste and solid waste are the Ministry of People's Power for the Environment and the Ministry of People's Power for Health.“The control and reduction of the production of residues and solid waste, as well as the recovery of matter and energy, is declared a national policy, in order to protect health and the environment against the harmful effects that may arise from their inadequate management” , as established in the Waste and Solid Waste Law.This legislation indicates that the powers range from the regime, to the Municipality.In this sense, the mayors must establish and guarantee the management of the urban, rural and home cleaning service, according to article 14.Likewise, establishing the conditions, modalities and specific terms of the integral management of waste and solid residues, and regulating the integral management of residues and waste through municipal regulations, are some of the responsibilities established by law to the Municipal Executive Power and Metropolitan Districts. .In Lara state, Imaubar is the public company in charge of waste collection in the municipalities of Iribarren, Andrés Eloy Blanco, Crespo, Jiménez, Moran, Palavecino, Simón Planas, Torres and Urdaneta.In addition, Larenses have the private company Fospuca, which provides services for businesses, companies and industries.This company is managed from the Mayor's Office of Iribarren, however, very high costs are recorded.Merchants have protested so that the rates are adjusted to the country's economic situation and suggest that payments should depend on the amount of waste generated by the business and not on the size of the premises, as is currently charged.Despite having a public and a private company, the communities of Barquisimeto continue to denounce the failures in the urban sanitation service.They qualify the problem as "intolerable", this is because the accumulations of garbage last up to more than 10 days before being collected.Greater Caracas is another area in the center of the country where the waste collection crisis continues to affect the quality of life of its inhabitants.According to interviews and surveys, the presence of vultures is recorded in many sectors, which is evidence of large accumulations of garbage.In the La Vega sector of the capital city, Mrs. Blanca Margarita Álvarez is a garbage collector.She makes sure that the neighbors place their waste inside the containers, that they do not leave debris behind, and that the cleaning truck provides the service on the established days and times.According to Álvarez, in La Vega the collection service works efficiently, although it maintains a constant struggle for residents to become aware and dispose of waste properly.Read more on Radio Fe y Alegría NewsClick here to support freedom of expression in Venezuela.Your donation will serve to strengthen our digital platform from the writing of the Dean of the National Press, and thus allow us to continue forward committed to accurate information, as our flag has been since 1904.© Developed by El Impulso |All rights reserved.