The Christmas holidays ended and some citizens took advantage of the time to get rid of what wasn’t longer useful. In addition to the traditional trash, there are armchairs, clothes, printers, televisions and even a refrigerator in the middle of the street.
Vacant lots are also exploited as new landfills and the collection of these wastes is complicated because most of them are out of the traditional route used by collection companies. However, for the national authorities, this issue is not new.
According to said Andrés Bermudez, spokesman for the National Association of Mayors and City Councils (NHAI) this issue is known among municipalities as bad-waste management increases at the beginning of the year. In fact, different municipalities have come together to start collection campaigns of objects such as Christmas trees.
To the ANAI, this issue is a shared responsibility between taxpayers and municipalities and both can design proposals so citizens do not affect their own communities.
One of the aspects that concerns authorities the most is the possibility that this garbage may cause fires. In 2016, firefighters assisted 9,940 emergencies for this reason.
In addition, firefighters are also worried because these areas become indigents’ homes and due to their drug abuse, they can start a fire.