The problem of garbage is one of the main afflictions for the port of Progreso, and one of its causes is the lack of an adequate sanitary landfill, with effective final disposition of the port city’s solid waste.
The current sanitary landfill located on the Mérida-Progreso highway near the Paraíso community is no longer enough to accommodate the enormous amount of waste generated in the port and its surrounding communities.
Therefore, the current administration of Mayor Julian Zacarias Curi opted to stop using this landfill, and instead begin to make use of the waste disposal of the city of Merida, this with the permission and support of Mayor Renán Barrera; however, the garbage collectors of the port indicate that a landfill for Progreso is necessary.
In this regard, Zacarías Curi said that it is not yet known what will happen with this situation. “It is a delicate situation, it is not yet known if together with the state government we will seek to invest in a regional deposit or a new local dump will be created,” he said.
According to those in charge of the garbage dump, it has already reached its maximum limit, since the space is completely dense and can no longer receive waste. In addition to that a great part of the accumulations of garbage is burning, and because of the great amount of garbage these flames produce continuous smoke, causing great contamination.
From past administrations, thousands of kilos of waste were entering the dump every day, and there was not a proper recycling and separation plan, simply throwing everything together without discriminating.
Text and photo: David Correa
