New Garbage Authority Begins Operations
(Panama-Guide) The manager of the new Authority for Urban and Household Cleanliness (AAUD), Enrique Ho, said that by February they should have the problems with the piles of accumulated garbage in Panama City solved, with the acquisition of more equipment and personnel. He made the announcement yesterday when the AAUD officially started the job of collecting the garbage in Panama City. The cleanup began at 7:00 am at the Plaza 5 de Mayo, with a team of officials who toured such areas as Bella Vista and El Chorrillo, among others, placing a higher priority on neighborhoods such as San Francisco and Paitilla which have gone for more than 20 days without service.
The conference was attended by the Minister of Health, Franklin Vergara, the manager of the Tourism Authority of Panama, Solomon Shamah, and the entire staff of the new authority that traveled to the different parts of the city to solve the problems with trash collection. The AAUD manager said they have about 25 waste collection trucks operating with the same number of employees as the old Municipal Directorate of Urban and Household Cleanliness (Dimaud), which ceased operations last December.
With an extraordinary credit of $82 million dollars, the AAUD must collect about 1,500 tons of garbage per day. They will add another 25 garbage trucks to bring the total up to 50 by the end of this month, and in February they will rent another 35 vehicles and 20 dump trucks. In total, they plan to be collecting 300 more tons of waste per day, compared to the 1,200 tons collected daily by the DIMAUD, and about 3,200 employees in the entity.
Ho also said that the lack of waste bins in various sectors will be resolved with the purchase of additional containers, however he gave no specific figure as to how many are needed. When asked if the waste bins would be removed in the future as the DIAMUD had planned, he said this would not take place under the AAUD.
Ho said they would be building a waste collection facility in the area of the 24 de Diciembre. As for the lack of maintenance that occurred under the management of the former authority, he said the problem has been resolved, but he did not say how. Similarly, Shamah asked the public for patience and cooperation, asking them to not create small garbage waste dumps in different sectors. On the other hand, Minister Vergara said the hospital waste incinerator was treated with a filter to prevent environmental problems. Olga Cardenas complained that the waste collection trucks only passed through some parts of El Chorrillo, such as the area of Pedro Obarrio, and they expect answers soon.
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Original Source: Panama-Guide
Date Retrieved: January 4, 2011.
