Heydays of huge garbage dump over for scavengers<\/p>\n
By Lara Parpan<\/p>\n
SMOKEY MOUNTAIN, Philippines (AFP): The putrid smell from the
\ngargantuan dump, once a humiliating symbol of the Philippines'
\npoverty, has at last been replaced by a blanket of soft green
\ngrass on its summit.<\/p>\n
The 21-hectare (50-acre) dump-cum-shanty-town beside Manila
\nBay, which was ordered shut in 1993 by President Fidel Ramos but
\nwhich residents say continued to operate until June 1995, is now
\nready to be reborn under a government redevelopment plan.<\/p>\n
But the dump's closure, while removing a thorny image problem
\nfor the authorities, ended decades of lucrative scavenging for
\nalmost three generations of families which have lived at Smokey
\nMountain since it first opened in 1954.<\/p>\n
Prior to its closure, about 1,200 tons of the 5,000-tons of
\ngarbage produced daily by this metropolis with eight million
\nresidents, was dumped here, waste management authorities say.<\/p>\n
The result was a veritable mountain of trash which grew up,
\nattracting scavengers who slowly became residents of the dump-
\ntown, embarrassing officials and Manila residents when Smokey
\nMountain gained worldwide notoriety.<\/p>\n
Despite its rudimentary amenities, Smokey Mountain was years
\nahead of the Greens. Recycling became a byword here long before
\nit caught on in the West, and near its summit, a row of junk
\nshops towers over the dwindling pile of refuse.<\/p>\n
Amid the squalor of the shanties huddled together on the huge
\ngarbage heap, order somehow reigns in Julie Apilado's junk shop.
\nSacks of used paper, cans, bottles, plastic and scrap metal, all
\nconsigned to designated areas, occupy every nook and cranny of
\nApilado's \"yard.\"<\/p>\n
\"I learned about recycling from the people who bought garbage
\nfrom us,\" said the 39-year-old mother of three, who has lived
\nhere for 32 years.<\/p>\n
A puzzled look crosses her face when asked if she's an
\nenvironmentalist. \"I'm not sure,\" she says.<\/p>\n
Apilado says earnings have dropped from 4,000 pesos (US$154) a
\nday to 1,500 pesos ($58) since dumping was halted at Smokey
\nMountain.<\/p>\n
To augment sagging income, three pushcarts and four pedicabs
\nmake rounds collecting recyclable garbage from Manila's streets,
\nwhich is then sold to large factories which have a use for the
\nmaterial.<\/p>\n
A nearby day-care center founded by a French Jesuit priest
\nteaches Rosemary, 12, and other former scavengers how to paint
\nshirts and make greeting cards from recycled paper after school,
\nin the hope this will prevent them from moving on to other dump
\nsites.<\/p>\n
Rosemary used to be one of the 1,300 child scavengers who
\nbegan scouring the dump when her mother first took her there when
\nshe was nine. Her father, also a scavenger, died from a lung
\ndisease several years ago.<\/p>\n
Felisa, 35, says her husband barely makes enough to meet the
\nneeds of their three children, driving a pedicab in city streets
\nfor a fraction of the money he made as a scavenger.<\/p>\n
But she concedes life has become more healthy for her and her
\nfamily since the dumping stopped.<\/p>\n
\"The toxic fumes have disappeared, my children cough less, and
\nmaybe the good thing is that people have learned to look for
\nother livelihoods,\" she says. \"I can't believe that we put up
\nwith the smell for so many years.\"<\/p>\n
But she and 1,600 families living on the dump's fringes have
\nrejected the government's offer of temporary housing nearby.
\nAbout 1,300 families have moved to the new site, while 200 other
\nfamilies were resettled elsewhere.<\/p>\n
The government redevelopment plans include permanent housing
\nfor all of them, several port-related projects and an
\n\"environment friendly\" incinerator.<\/p>\n
Gloria, 43, who lived with her family for 10 years at Smokey
\nMountain, washes clothes outside her new one-room lodging at the
\ntemporary housing site. She and her husband, who still scavenges
\nfor trash nearby, resisted relocation for three years before
\ngiving in.<\/p>\n
\"The president has spoken, I know the project is going to push
\nthrough,\" she says, as she awaits government's promise of 4,000
\npesos in capital which the family intends to use to open a small
\ngrocery.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/heydays-of-huge-garbage-dump-over-for-scavengers-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}