After organizations from the nearby community of Haina met and decided to block the entrance from Santo Domingo to trucks from Attwoods Dominicana, the mayor of Haina, Manolo Mesa Morillo, ordered the dumping of refuse from Santo Domingo to stop. On 20 June, Mayor Mesa Morillo agreed to permit the dumping of refuse collected in the capital into the Haina dump for one week, but the trucks from Attwoods, which is working in conjunction with the Armed Forces and the Santo Domingo city council in the collection of refuse, continued to arrive. Five weeks later, 80 tons of refuse from Santo Domingo were being dumped in Haina daily, provoking a massive protest from the residents.
The incidents in Haina have once again highlighted the challenge of refuse collection and dumping in Santo Domingo, where it is not uncommon to see piles of rubbish on streets in neighborhoods who residents come from all social and economic classes. Even across from the Faro a Colon, the magnificent light house dedicated to the memory of Christopher Columbus during the Fifth Centenary, large piles of refuse have accumulated.
Mayor Subervi Bonilla has said that the state of refuse collection will remain precarious for the next few months, until equipment sent from Japan arrives for the construction of a sanitary refill in the Duquesa dump in Santo Domingo. Until then, according to the mayor, the city council and Attwoods will continue to look for dumping areas on the outskirts of the capital.