Garbage creating a public health crisis

The administrative inability to deal with garbage collection in critical points of the country has become a public health crisis for thousands of Panamanians in their communities reports TVN.

For the residents who live in the Chepo district, garbage has become a tremendous headache, where the proliferation of clandestine dumps has gotten out of control and has flooded the streets with all kinds of waste ranging from plastic, cardboard, and tires to furniture, appliances and even dead animals.

Residents assure that the garbage collection system, in charge of the municipality of Chepo, is not efficient, much less competent, however, the crisis has also been aggravated by the lack of social awareness of the citizens who irresponsibly throw away the garbage anywhere and make poor waste disposal.

Places like Chichebre, Unión de Azuero, Superación Campesina, Tanara, and La Margaritas, suffer every day due to the lack of an effective system, and by not having collection trucks that pass through their communities, they have seen the need to convert uninhabited land into a clandestine dump.