NewsWhore
05-26-2009, 02:30 PM
It's Monday. From 8am on, dozens of wheelbarrows loaded with solid waste are pushed through the tight alleyways of up to 500 meters in length, in the slums of the National District (Santo Domingo), as reported in Diario Libre. Hurriedly, the collectors load their cargoes in small trucks. Hundreds of men do the work that is difficult for the garbage trucks of the municipal government of the National District (ADN) due to the narrow streets in barrios like La Zurza, Guachupita, Capotillo, Los Guandules, Simon Bolivar and La Cienega. These men belong to five foundations, more like micro-businesses, since they are paid US$20 for each ton of garbage that they sell to the ADN, although they feel that it should be more.
The refuse is taken to the Municipal Transfer Station in Villas Agricolas. The groups, which were set up by the Marginal Barrios Sanitation Project (Sabamar), make three trips a day, each collecting between 30 and 120 tons, and earning between RD$14,400 and RD$57,000 per month.
With the refuse that they sell, they have managed to build up a payroll where each person gets RD$5,000 a month.
Thanks to the money collected, the foundations also tackle community problems like building bridges, footpaths, or channeling rain run-off, among other needs. An estimated one million people live in the National District, 220,000 in these barrios alone. It is from their garbage that others reap benefits.
The project's environmental coordinator Jovanny Guzman says that illnesses in the area have been reduced by as much as 80%. Residents have now become protective of the cleanliness: One woman, Dona Aida de la Cruz reported that someone had thrown refuse in her backyard, meaning the Ozama River. Looking at the poor neighborhoods along the river, the contrast with the garbage that lines the other bank (in Santo Domingo East) is noticeable. This is because each sanitation entity works with an integrated group of between 10 and 20 men to clean up the riverbanks. Each week they take out tons of refuse that the wheelbarrow brigades haul away. In just two years they have removed 3,506 tons of garbage.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#7)
The refuse is taken to the Municipal Transfer Station in Villas Agricolas. The groups, which were set up by the Marginal Barrios Sanitation Project (Sabamar), make three trips a day, each collecting between 30 and 120 tons, and earning between RD$14,400 and RD$57,000 per month.
With the refuse that they sell, they have managed to build up a payroll where each person gets RD$5,000 a month.
Thanks to the money collected, the foundations also tackle community problems like building bridges, footpaths, or channeling rain run-off, among other needs. An estimated one million people live in the National District, 220,000 in these barrios alone. It is from their garbage that others reap benefits.
The project's environmental coordinator Jovanny Guzman says that illnesses in the area have been reduced by as much as 80%. Residents have now become protective of the cleanliness: One woman, Dona Aida de la Cruz reported that someone had thrown refuse in her backyard, meaning the Ozama River. Looking at the poor neighborhoods along the river, the contrast with the garbage that lines the other bank (in Santo Domingo East) is noticeable. This is because each sanitation entity works with an integrated group of between 10 and 20 men to clean up the riverbanks. Each week they take out tons of refuse that the wheelbarrow brigades haul away. In just two years they have removed 3,506 tons of garbage.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#7)