Global Courant
Unfortunately, in the national idiosyncrasy, a kind of paternalistic codependency prevails, a deficiency of ethical responsibility (rather than legal) and a relativistic hypocrisy that others face, resolve or suffer the effects of any nonsense as long as it is not about oneself or of the group of close friends. There are clear examples of these contradictions, which are no less real because they are illogical. There are the politicians who claim injustice when certain rulings affect them, but when the effects were unrelated they did not even give them importance, although the principle of the violated right was the same. There are also officials or former officials who commit flagrant illegalities, but when they are accused they claim political persecution, sellouts or animosity against them, instead of facing the consequences of their actions.
There is a problem that the vast majority of people underestimate in terms of its dimension or effect but causes enormous damage in nearby communities or neighboring countries: the generation, accumulation and inadequate disposal of solid waste, which for decades has been solved with a massive dump , careless of what has already been consumed.
From this account, tons of unclassified garbage continue to be dumped daily in the vicinity of markets, bus terminals, vacant lots, gullies used as dumps, riverbeds that have become open drains. The lack of punitive legislation, and above all of an ecological conscience, have prolonged these actions, which at the same time are based on dismissive and even contemptuous attitudes towards the common good and the conservation of the environment.
The government agreement that gave life in 2021 to the Regulation for the Classification of Solid Waste is three months away from entering into force. There are some efforts by people, companies and private foundations to promote the orderly disposal of waste, classifying it according to its organic or inorganic origin, as well as differentiating between paper and cardboard, glass or plastic. It is a necessary and urgent task that has gone against the inertia of decades.
Next August should begin the mandatory classification of garbage from each home, in each neighborhood and condominium, in each urban area, each municipality, which in turn would imply training for collectors and adaptation of vehicles in charge of such important service. However, so far very little change is perceived in the daily collection. Plastic bags with scrambled garbage continue to swarm and also, in some places, the resistance of neighbors to pay for the transfer of their waste.
The Ministry of the Environment itself recognizes that a large part of said polluting chaos is found in the dumps located in neighborhood markets, something that seems very difficult to correct in less than two months, but it is a change whose implementation is unavoidable. For this reason, any type of postponement or laxity in the application of the standard is not advisable. Virtually no candidate for mayor addresses this issue seriously and even less with concrete proposals at the national level. Yes, it is an issue that can create resistance and even conflict, but it will be a cost that the authorities must be willing to face as part of the obligations they voluntarily assume when applying.
Political myopia weighs down the fight against garbage
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