We are snowbirds & have been coming to Juan Dolio for the past 8 years, staying in Marbella Condominiums 4-5 months. Every year they burn garbage across the way in the Haitian Village & no one seems to say a word. We have been here since the beginning of Dec & it seems like they've been burning almost every night. I can't believe that people who own units here & Hemingway, etc, don't do something about this. Certainly, it can't be legal & the health hazards are really bad. Today I changed the filters on my husband's cpap machine & I was shocked at how black they are. We're breathing this everyday. Sadly, I've come to the conclusion we'll have to run our air conditioning at night & maybe even start to rethink our yearly trip here. This is such a beautiful place. Can't something be done.
- Thread starter Goldenruler
- Start date
Burning Garbage & Your Health
Unfortunately you may have to move to a better location. If you can somehow convince the police or fire department (if you have one) to come out regularly to extinguish tthese fires, it then creates the problem of large piles of rotting garbage that smells even worse.
You are in a unfortunate dilemma with little help available to you. The Haitians are probably squatting illegally but nobody seems to do much to correct the problem.
You are in a unfortunate dilemma with little help available to you. The Haitians are probably squatting illegally but nobody seems to do much to correct the problem.
Sometimes people have success when they call Medio Ambiente. Sometimes.
Just love how people want to change paradise,how they see fit
Your a vistor
I've yet to travel to or reside in a "developing" country where they didn't burn their garbage.
The Dominican Government let a fire burn at the dump in Puerto Plata on Highway 5 (main road)
for several years before the cruise lines raised enough hell about it so they finally extinguished
it about a year ago.
8 years staying 4 to 5 months gives them a higher status than visitor. They didn't say but it's possible they did the resident and cedula thing.
Not sure how you relate squatters burning garbage to paradise but we all have our standards. I also doubt they would stay in the same place year after year with a garbage fire across the street.
What about that pit in the capitai last year. They let that burn for 150 days and nights. Even the rich racist snoot Dominicans from Cacicazgos were pitching fits. Dingo looked like downtown Mumbai.
First let me say I feel for you and your husband that have have respiratory problems because of this.
In Juan Dolio where you are living there is a Haitian Village as you describe, most are construction workers working on all the developments near buy. The squatters as you describe are paying a fee to who ever manages or owns the land to build their "Tin Shack".
Only land owners with houses and Title pay for garbage collection. More than likely this land owner does not pay for garbage collection. (it would be very expensive because of the amount of people/shacks occupying the land).
The solution for the "squatters" is burning the garbage otherwise they and you would be living with rat and mosquito infestation.
Now the solution would be if the Builders or construction company's would supply deceit living condition(included garbage collection) with the construction workers (Squatters). This would never happen as this would cut into the Builders profits.
Your solution would be to address the problem to the owners who you rent from and use media to give the area a bad reputation. More than likely this would not change anything as the owners would rent to someone else unless bad media reports would be from enough renters to affect the possible income to owners.
Easiest solution just close the windows and accept the living condition and next year look for some where else.
In short the problem is not the "Squatters" but the people who they are working for!
The only possible outcome is the people in the OP will have to move if they want to avoid the problem.
I don't think it's a bad thing for anyone to want to stop the burning. It's horrible for your health & you only need to take a look at your floors & furniture to see what it does to your home.
Absolutely a health issue.
Burning plastic is a well known carcinogen.
It, me I am moving out of there asap.
Lots easier to take steps to protect your health as opposed to regaining it.
Maybe the change would help everyone.
I have mixed feelings because if they don't burn the trash it festers is unsightly and brings rats.
Poverty brings with it certain unpleastries
I like what you said, sadly there's no money in it to motivate anyone to do something about it.
This is an excellent point. Thank God we have folks that still like to think for themselves on this board... and in society.
When I was new here many moons ago like Windy, i lived in a poor ghetto in SDE. We had one of those gubmint apartment deals. The garbage from the building was just left at the entrance on the ground. Never saw more rats, tarantula and centipedes my entire life. The diapers looked like dirty melted snow on 7th Ave during rush hour. Everyone in the building was sick with something. Three to four weeks like that before collection. We burned it.
Our house is in the campo. Garbage collection is a joke. We paid for it for a long time, trucks never showed for literally over a month. We’re lucky to have a large property, so garbage gets burned at the back of the property, and everyone else does the same. There’s an unwritten etiquette neighbors have developed, not to burn when others have laundry out, not midday, not near property lines, etc.
Even the restaurants burn their garbage, usually very late at night.
Even the restaurants burn their garbage, usually very late at night.
This is, in fact, how it works. The municipalities (nation-wide) rarely put money into trucks for collection. In Cab, there was only one truck for the longest time and it would sit at the Ayuntamiento is disrepair, while the politicos pocketed the funds allocated for this. (@windeguy should be able to confirm this).