The city of Santiago was enveloped in thick smoke yesterday caused by the burning of refuse at the Rafey garbage dump. According to the report in Diario Libre, many parents in the western sector of the city kept their children home from school and others said the billowing smoke made transit difficult due to poor visibility.
The president of the local chapter of the Dominican Medical College (CMD), Juan Guillot Caba, said yesterday that contamination at the Rafey site could unleash an outbreak of respiratory diseases. He recommended that the municipal authorities should seek collaboration from business and other sectors of society to find a definitive solution to the problem caused by the solid wastes.
Santiago’s mayor, Jose Enrique Sued, attributed the situation to the wind patterns that are currently going from west to east. In the past few days, says Diario Libre, dozens of children and adults have been treated at the hospital in Cienfuegos for respiratory and pulmonary problems caused by contamination from Rafey.