Closure of K'ara K'ara landfill could face more delays - Bolivia

On September 17 Bolivian Cochabamba department's high court ruled to close the K'ara K'ara landfill, located in Cochabamba city in Cercado province, from January 1, 2010.

Last week the 5,000 inhabitants living around the dump held protests to speed up the closure, as they claim lixiviates from the site are contaminating the underground water resources and causing illness, local press reported.

The protesters blocked the entrance to the dump, causing over 1,600t of garbage to accumulate in the streets of Cochabamba. They claim that the mayor of Cercado has had over five years to carry out the definitive closure of the landfill but that nothing concrete has been done.

Meanwhile, the head of Cochabamba's municipal waste management firm Emsa, Ernesto Soto, said that authorities will need at least a year to look for a site for a new landfill and carry out the necessary works.

Cercado city hall has been announcing the closure of the dump since 2003, according to environmentalists and neighbors living close to the facility.

The president of environment forum Focomade, John Zambrana, said city hall and Emsa have signed 5-7 agreements with communities living close to K'ara K'ara promising to start the technical closure of the dump and find a new location.

However, when the deadlines came around, city hall renegotiated with the inhabitants, promising them more benefits, such as payment for each ton of garbage that entered K'ara K'ara, and thus delaying the closure of the dump, first scheduled for 2005 and then for 2007.

Inhabitants on both occasions blocked the entrance to the site but this measure was stopped once the agreements were signed.

These communities are now requesting that the senate change the land use regulations in the area from rural to urban which would make the dump illegal and therefore speed up its closure.

DEADLINE EXTENSION

In spite of the protests and the court ruling, local authorities are expected to request an extension to the December 31 deadline to close K'ara K'ara, paper Los Tiempos reported.

The timeframe is too short to find and prepare a new landfill, according to the department's legal advisor, Rolando Ramos.

Last week, city hall representative Ricardo Ondarza said it would look for a way to have the ruling reviewed as the landfill's closure will require more time.

"We have spoken with city hall to coordinate the implementation of a solid waste treatment plant. We have already had two meetings and we are progressing but it is very probable that we will not have enough time and will need to present something to authorities," Ramos was quoted as saying.

In November 2008, the lower house recommended that K'ara K'ara be declared a disaster zone and said the state should allocate resources to clean up the site. However, to date President Evo Morales has not taken any action, the report said.

COSTLY DELAY

Meanwhile, the cleanup of the landfill will cost some US$5.8mn, according to environmental organizations grouped together as Plataforma Gears, Los Tiempos reported.

Plataforma Gears based its calculations on the need to remove garbage from the area, the drainage of lixiviates, the capture of toxic gases and reforestation.

K'ara K'ara first began to operate on 10ha. This area went into disuse in 2001 and 630,000t of garbage is estimated to lie there. In the same year, garbage reduction was implemented over another 15ha, where 1,200t of rubbish has been collected.

According to Plataforma Gears, if city hall had shut the dump during 2001 or 2002, it could have saved over US$3.2mn.

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