by Werner Klinger and Carlos Alcántara V.

As part of a GTZ regional development project in the Colombian Department of Nari o, a number of small communities are being advised on how to carry out work which in future - as a result of Colombia's decentralization laws - will be their own responsibility. This advisory work is being carried out in cooperation with the regional development authority responsible, CORPONARINO.

The work in question covers practically all supply and discharge services. In addition to preparing local development plans, the advisory work focusses on solving the communities' waste disposal problems. In the densely populated Andean regions of the Department, some experience has already been gathered and the communities are currently implementing projects; in contrast, the first-ever inventory of the waste problems of the coastal communities was only compiled in the course of a tour of inspection early this year.

Extreme conditions in Satinga and Mosquera

The communities of Satinga and Mosquera, each with some 8,000 inhabitants, are main centres on the of waste oil collected increase, the system will become economically viable.

The fact that a waste oil collection system can be an economically viable proposition is clearly illustrated by the system in the Hodeida area, where about 24,0001 of waste oil is already collected every two months by "streetworkers" and sold to the cement factory by a private entrepreneur.

Pacific coast of the Department of Nari o, where the principal industries are logging and fishing. The region's peculiar waste disposal problems are well illustrated by these two communities.

Physical and geographical conditions

The two communities are far away from any road links: they are situated in the deltas of major rivers, and are affected by tidal differences of several metres, as well as by salt water penetration at high tide. In 1978, a severe seaquake caused widespread destruction, and the ground level of the entire region dropped as a result. Larges areas of the settlements are now flooded at high tide. Large parts of the communities are built on pile constructions over arms of the rivers and canals.

Infrastructure

At present, none of the infrastructural facilities, such as water or power supplies, are working. There are some schools and simple hospitals but they are totally inadequate as regards both equipment and staffing. The condition of the local road networks is a particularly serious problem: most of the roads and bridges are impassable even with the most primitive vehicles, such as hand carts and animal-drawn wagons.

Public authorities and the public

The municipal authorities are almost incapable of carrying out their statutory tasks. Budgets are currently being prepared with the help of the regional development authority. While the mayor and representatives of the community are well aware of the waste problem, the inadequate supply services infrastructure leads them to see other priorities when the need for projects is considered.

Large sections of the population are also aware of the health waste problems caused by their. A survey carried out by the present authors, however revealed that they also put supply services first, above all water and energy supplies (see Fig. 1).

Domestic waste a danger to health

An analysis of communal waste problems revealed the following:

• Each inhabitant produces about 0.9 kg of waste per day; with a population of 8,000 this adds up to 7.2 tones per day.

The proportion of recyclable materials (glass, paper, metals) is low.

The waste contains only small amounts of environmentally hazardous substances and materials. Batteries, which are often used because of the inadequate power supply, are the major exception.

• The health centers have special problems, because some of the waste they produce is infectious and cannot be disposed of without risk.

At present, the inhabitants throw their domestic waste into the rivers, river arms, or drainage channels usually when the tide is in. Considerable hazards to health result from the fact that the waste thrown into the waterways simply stays at the point of disposal or is returned to it by tidal movements. The problem is aggravated by the fact that water from these waterways is also used as drinking and service water and that both people and animals regularly bathe in it.

How can the waste problem be solved?

The general conditions outlined above make it clear that in this case practically none of the usual methods of waste treatment can be used, or only with modifications.

Waste collection and transport

All collection and transport systems are hampered by the difficulty of access to large areas of the settlements. Considering the lack of maintenance facilities it seem in advisable to use motor vehicles. Improvements in the quality of the road network is a basic precondition of any further measures in this area.

• Organic matter (kitchen waste etc.) accounts for about three quarters of the waste.

Recycling

As the proportion of recyclable

materials is low and the nearest center with the necessary industrial infrastructure is far away, it is not worthwhile to sort out these materials to recycle them. And artisanal recycling is unknown in this region.

Composting

The high proportion of organic matter makes the waste almost ideal as a raw material for compost. However, since there is practically no agriculture in the vicinity of the communities it must be assumed that there would be no market for compost.

Dumping

As indicated above the amount of waste cannot be reduced by Common treatment methods. Dumping therefore the only possible way to dispose of the waste reasonably safely. But dumping has its specific problems as well.

a) There is considerable competition for the few sites that would be suitable as tips (in many cases it is planned to use them as aircraft landing strips or for housing developments).

b) There is a danger that waste tips could contaminate the groundwater, because the water table is almost at surface level everywhere. For this reason it is important to seal the tipping areas, possibly using the locally occurring clay-rich soils.

In spite of the difficult conditions mentioned, the organic components of the waste are used in some interesting ways. In Mosquera, which is particularly severely affected by a drop in ground level since the 1978 seaquake, the households use organic waste as fill material for roads which would otherwise be flooded by the spring tide. Also, the use of organic matter as fill material enables land to be reclaimed from the areas affected by salt water and made cultivable.

Abstract

In Satinga and Mosquera, two towns, on Colombia's Pacific coast, waste disposal poses a gigantic problem. Both communities are practically wsterbrne: built on the deltas of major rivers, they are flooded at every high tide. The groundwater table is also very high, and some of the tracks and bridges are impassable even with handcarts. At present, domestic waste is simply thrown Into the water, thus creating an ever-present health hazard. Collection and dumping is the only safer way to dispose of waste here.

Résumé

A Satinga et Mosquera, deux communes colombiennes de la côte pacifique, I'élimination des ordures constitue un problème considérable. Ces deux communes vent irmplantées pratiquement dans l'eau. D'une part, elles vent situées l'ernbouchure de fleuves importants et, d'autre part, elles vent inondées, a chaque mater montante. A cela vient s'ajoute le niveau très élevé de la nappe phréatique. Les che mins et ponts et ponts vent en partieimpraticables avec une charette à bras. Actuellement, les ordures ménagères sont tout simple ment jetées dans l'eav - une source permanente de danger pour la santé humaine. La seule possibilité d'élimination des dechets consiste donc ici à créer des déchets consiste donc ici à créer des décharges d'ordures.

Extracto

En satinga y Mosquera, dos municipios en la costa columbiana del Paciffico, la eliminación de basuras constituye un enorme problema. Ambas pobblaciones se encuentran, como si dijeramos, en el agua. Por una parte se encuentran en los deltas de desembocadura de importantes ríosy, por otra parte, son invadidas por las agus en da inundación in También el nivel de las aguas subterrâneas es muy elevado caminos y puentes existentes no son transitables, en parte, ni siquiera con una carretilla de mano. Las basuras domiciliarias se arrojan actualmente sencilamente al sgua, un permanente foco de peligrospara la saIud humane. El traslado de las basuras a un basurero organizado es en este c aso la única posibilidad de evacuación de las mismas.