The Health Ministry of Nicaragua (Minsa) warned of a serious threat of epidemic due to accumulated decomposing garbage in the streets.
El Nuevo Diario reported Wednesday that garbage has not been collected for over nine days in Managua, which Minsa specialists and city mayor Dionisio Marenco consider a hazard for the 1.2 million residents.
Although Minsa official Dr. Julio Caldera said there has been no diseases yet, the accumulated 5,000 tons of garbage could cause an outbreak of dengue, diarrhea and leptospirosis if city authorities do not help settle the crisis.President Daniel Ortega has threatened state involvement if the matter over control of sales of recyclables is not settled.
The nearly 2,000 self-employed garbage collectors accuse municipal authorities of signing an accord with export companies to shut them out, using trucks to select the best recyclable material and sell to companies contracted with the Mayor's office.Recycling yielded Nicaragua $16 million in 2007 but the business does not ease the social drama of thousands who seek their living from garbage.
No comments:
Post a Comment