Tensions mount over penonomé landfill

Edilsa González Roca/LA PRENSA

allies: Construction workers joined residents of El Coco in blocking access to the disputed municipal dumpsite yesterday. 1098077

Garbage continues to generate confrontations between police and residents of the Penonomé area. Riot police tossed tear gas into the crowd of protesters and arrested three young protesters yesterday after they allegedly slashed the tires of one of the garbage trucks ordered to deliver waste to the contested Los Cerritos landfill.

Construction workers with the Sindicato Único de Trabajadores de la Construcción y Similares joined residents angered by the dumpsite’s location to block three streets in the El Coco neighborhood, barring access to the nearby landfill.

Agrazal Moses, one of the spokesmen of the community, said they would continue obstructing the entrance to the dump until the city suspends activities at the site.

Yesterday, officials of the environmental units of the Defensoría del Pueblo, the Ministerio de Salud and the Autoridad Nacional del Ambiente conducted an inspection of the Los Cerritos landfill and met with community leaders to discuss their concerns about living on the perimeters of the municipal dumpsite.

Dario Fernández, governor of Coclé, said that tomorrow meetings will proceed, and he hopes to reach an agreement with the community. Nevertheless, he added, residents must understand that this is a temporary landfill, which will be sanitized once a permanent site is designated.