A Survey: Is Santo Domingo Any Cleaner?

Keith R

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When I was in Santo Domingo this past August, I noted that the streets in many parts of the Districto Nacional (DN) portion of Santo Domingo appeared cleaner than I remember them from my days living there (1995-99). This was particularly notable in the Colonial Zone, Gascue, the Malecon (with all its trash cans and banners about taking pride in nuestra "Ciudad Limpia") and some of the major streets. I noticed little to no difference in San Carlos, however, which made me wonder just how deep the clean-up effort really went, even in the DN.

I noticed little difference in Santo Domingo East (Ozama) & West. I did not visit SD North.

The Dominicans I spoke to at the time that felt the DN had gotten cleaner pointed to Mayor Roberto Salcedo's efforts as the main reason. Some wondered if it would continue once he left office. Some said it was only possible because he got the cooperation of the national government (because he is of the same party), whereas the other 3 mayors did not (is that true, that they don't? Or just PRD talk?)

I'd like to hear from people living in Santo Domingo, especially if you have been living there for several years (and therefore likely to have a true "before" and "after" perspecitve). In your opinion:

  1. Has the DN become noticebly cleaner in recent years?
  2. If you answer yes to question #1, then to what do you attribute it? What is being done right? And is it transferable to other cities, if the mayors get fully behind it?
  3. If you think it has only improved in some parts of the DN, which ones, and which ones are being neglected?
  4. How big is the contrast with SD East, West & North? Beyond the usual excuses about competing parties, what are these municipalities doing right or wrong regarding their trash/litter problem?
  5. Is trash collection in your barrio (please indicate which one) now regular, and if so, at what frequency?*
  6. In your estimation, how many of your neighbors actually pay their garbage collection bill? Is city hall getting any better at collecting the money? Or is it periodically running out of money to pay contractors because it never forces citizens to pay their collection bills?
I'd also like to know how often people still see botelleros in their neighborhood, and whether the colmado in your neighborhood is still operating an informal deposit/return system for your soda bottles. [Pictures related to both sent to greenteam@dr1.com would be greatly appreciated -- we can include attribution to you if we use them in the blog series on waste and recycling.]

Thanks in advance for your help!

Best Regards,
Keith
Green Team

* Or is it like it used to be for me in 1995-99 -- you never knew when the trash truck would show up, so you were always ready for that mad dash to the curb...
 
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Larry

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Mar 22, 2002
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Keith,

Not directly related but concerning SD and the envirnoment.....the fumes emitting from some of the vehicles here is horrible. No sense in elaborating, because ou know exactly what I mean. I wish there was something that could be done.

Larry
 

Keith R

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Larry said:
Keith,

Not directly related but concerning SD and the envirnoment.....the fumes emitting from some of the vehicles here is horrible. No sense in elaborating, because ou know exactly what I mean. I wish there was something that could be done.

Larry
Unfortunately I do. We had a fiesty debate over this very issue a few weeks back:

http://www.dr1.com/forums/showthread.php?t=44184

Some people (who I shall not name here & now) tried to argue it was not so big a problem.

You can bet that the Green Team will be tackling this issue too!

Best Regards,
Keith
 

2dlight

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Jun 3, 2004
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I found the Colonial Zone with way too much trash in the street in 1996. In my most recent trip in July I found a perceptible decrease in trash in some areas( I walked all of the Colonial Zone) and none in others. I did see squads of mostly women, sweeping the sidewalks of the Malecon west of the original obelisk. There were also landscape crews cutting grass and picking up trash from the sparse stretches of beach in the same area. A trash truck picked up trash every night along Calle Espaillat; don't know how many residents paid for the service though.
 

sugar72

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Nov 8, 2005
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Hi Green Team

I live by the Independencia, and go very little to East Side, but things have been consistently improving in this area. A lot of garbage cans and containers that used to be in public spaces were removed, also a lot of signs that were not directly attached to the buildings. where I live, garbage collection is done so many times a week we are not even bothering to get it out everytime, I dont know if this is the situation in the whole area because we do live closeby one of the headquarters of the City Hall, but i guess in general it has improved. I dont think so much work has been done with street pavings since almost every day there is a new hole everywhere. They did a great job at the park mirador in terms of security, but I feel they took down a couple more trees than they should have. (Dont know, probably I am too sentimental, I used to like it au naturel). Botelleros still collecting bottles, but usually dive in the garbage cans instead.
 

Chirimoya

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Dec 9, 2002
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In the ten (yes ten) years since I first visited the DR, the capital has become much cleaner.

Of course, this is simply based on personal impression. It could be that I've become more used to it. ;)

Seriously though, it has improved. It has to be the combination of better municipal cleaning which in turns enhances public pride, and the slow but sure effect of public education.

The domestic garbage collection is erratic, still.
 

juanita

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Apr 22, 2004
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I saw something that totally amazed me the other night. On the corner of Roberto Pastoriza & Lincoln, there were about 5 couples all dressed with their folklore uniforms, dancing in front of cars anytime the traffic lights would change. In the park beside, they had a band playing merengue while other couples would walk to each car giving out small garbage bags to be used in the car. We are slowly moving in the right direction!
 

suarezn

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Feb 3, 2002
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I have seen a definite improvement in cleanliness ever since Roberto Salcedo became the mayor as compared to when The PRD controlled city hall and Johnny "El Caballo" Ventura was mayor. There's definitely a long way to go, but most areas are cleaner and more organized. Specifically the amount of political propaganda has been reduced tremendously, which helps a lot.

Now The PRD wants to take back city hall with Pacheco going for mayor. I really hope people remember the times when Johnny was mayor and don't vote them back in.

Now, in my hometown of Cotui / La Mata there's been quite an improvement over the last few years. It used to be that the park was full of trash all the time, now there are a lot more businesses (bars, chimichurri stands, etc) right on the park which generate probably three times the trash as before, but they have a crew that sweeps and washes every morning...
 

Keith R

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suarezn said:
Now, in my hometown of Cotui / La Mata there's been quite an improvement over the last few years. It used to be that the park was full of trash all the time, now there are a lot more businesses (bars, chimichurri stands, etc) right on the park which generate probably three times the trash as before, but they have a crew that sweeps and washes every morning...
Interesting, Suarezn. Who organizes/pays the cleaning crew? The businesses? City hall? Some combo of the two? Someone else?
 

suarezn

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Keith R said:
Interesting, Suarezn. Who organizes/pays the cleaning crew? The businesses? City hall? Some combo of the two? Someone else?

Keith: I'm not sure who pays for this. My bet would be that city hall is paying and organizing the folks that clean. I do know that city hall does charge a small monthly fee to the people who own the stands for the space they occupy.

I will say I've been somewhat impressed with the work of the current mayor of Cotui. They even have cops enforcing "no-parking zones" on a certain side of the park where most traffic flows through during peak hours.

On the other hand they continue to do certain things without proper planning. For instance they started to widen the road from Cotui to La Mata, dug it all up and then stopped. So now there's this large ditch with no markings that just sitting there as no additional work is being performed.

It seems like these guys should attend some kind of "Governing 101 for Mayors" class to get the basics then they are elected. Which BTW does anyone know whether the government provides any kind of training for these people? Off topic, I know...but just wondered...
 

Chirimoya

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Which BTW does anyone know whether the government provides any kind of training for these people? Off topic, I know...but just wondered...
I've heard about international organisations funding exchanges with other countries like Spain for municipal officials, with this purpose in mind. There are also decentralisation/democratic participation programmes funded by large international donors which include this as a component. Whether it works...
 

andrea9k

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Apr 17, 2004
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I agree with chirimoya, the garbage collection has no schedule (if there is one they don't follow it). In Bella Vista, at least once a month I can tell the truck has not showed up for several days.

Its a shame a busy avenue such as R. Betancourt, from time to time, have messy garbage piles every other block.

In small streets, when the situation is really bad, neighbors arrange the pick up with private companies (not sure if they are really companies but they do the job for few pesos).

There are also some guys coming in these bicycles, who dive into the garbage cans looking for bottles, clothing or whatever they can resell.

In San Carlos, I can see the yellow sweeping guys everytime I go to a customer (twice a week). Av Mexico looks clean in that side of the city.

I would say the situation is better, not consistently tho.

Jess
 

Keith R

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suarezn said:
It seems like these guys should attend some kind of "Governing 101 for Mayors" class to get the basics then they are elected. Which BTW does anyone know whether the government provides any kind of training for these people? Off topic, I know...but just wondered...
I know the Environment Ministry has been trying to work with municipalities to sensitize them to the provisions of Law 64-00 and its regulations, to report violations, to work with the new Environment Police and Environment Prosecutors, and in some cases, even to set up their own little environment units, but I'm not sure how far along that really is. Another topic for the Green Team to explore, I suppose. :ermm:

hmm, wonder if we can put together a project proposal for private foundation funding that would train civic leaders in the DR in the fundamentals of good environmental governance.... [sound of wheels turning in Keith's brain] LOL
 

Keith R

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Thanks, Jess. I suspected that the improvement was not uniform throughout the DN. Oh, when I mentioned San Carlos, I wasn't thinking of Av Mexico, I was thinking of Barhona, Garabito etc. But you're right, Av Mexico did look better -- perhaps because it goes by the National Palace (he suggested mischeviously)... ;)
 

andrea9k

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To get there, from Bella Vista, I am driven by the 27 de febrero Ave, go up the elevado and go down by Ave. Duarte... I forgot that part... it is messy and dirty as hell... They should send some yellow sweeping guys, or enroll all the people sitting in doors and colmados...

Jess
 

Keith R

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Back in the 1980s, when I still worked on European consumer protection policy issues (I still do on Latin American & Caribbean work, but no longer Europe), there was this British consumer group that used to publicly praise good works and pan bad ones in soemthing they called "Brickbats and Bouquets," or some such. Maybe we should post a series of pics from across SD of both the good and the bad, trash wise, a sort of report card on what the mayors (and vecinos) are doing, and then invite all the Dominican periodicals to examine & publicize the page with the pics. A kind of public accountability, as it were...

Keith, musing aloud again
 

Stodgord

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Nov 19, 2004
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I just got back from Santo Domingo and one thing that I mentioned to people in Santo Domingo Este and DN is the cleanliness of the city. Now there is a new montly bills for trash collection. My mom says it is approximately 600 pesos. The garbage truck came by 2 to 3 times a week.

I wonder if a program using the military and prisoners to take care of the street and park sweeping would work in DR. Place a couple of soldiers in charge of a group prisoners type of thing.
 

macocael

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Salcedo has definitely improved things and deserves recognition for it. My own home stretch on the Bolivar is noticeably cleaner now, with regular garbage pickup almost every day and a regular team of street sweepers as well. I myself pay my garbage bill, but I doubt many of my fellow condo dwellers do, as the bills are all just dumped in one building and no one ever bothers to come and get theirs. I asked the girl at the office on the Conde where I pay the bill if in fact people were paying their billls and whether it was harder to get the condo dwellers to pay, and she claimed that house owners were more regular in their payments.

My overall impression is that streets are cleanest in the best neighborhoods and dirtiest in the poorest. In the heart of gazcue, the La Primavera quarter, the streets are pristine. SD East still seems pretty dirty and disorganized to me, but even there I have noticed some improvements. Same goes for SD North. All in all I am very impressed with Salcedo, and I love the idea of turning the malecon into a pedestrian mall on Sundays. I take my daughter there for drawing lessons and other entertainment.

Yes there are still botelleros and the colmados, so far as I know, still operate informally vis a vis bottle exchange.