The Nigua River in San Cristobal, is turning into a virtual sewer and its banks mined for sand. The daily extraction of one to three cubic meters of river sand supplies construction material for contractors while the uncontrolled dumping of garbage in the river is a result of the lack of water treatment facilities and garbage collection services of businesses and dwellings along the banks of the Nigua River. As a result, the river is a source of a noticeable stench and floating garbage in the river empties onto beaches.
Those dumping the garbage and taking the sand say they earn RD$400 to RD$500 a day in this activity. The provincial director of the Environment in San Cristobal, Ángel Brea, says that they have started to remove plastic waste from the river in an attempt to clean up the environmental mess. Brea acknowledges the importance of the river for the local population.
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El Dia
5 September 2018
