Q24N (EFE) The Colombian Air Force is working together with the Panama Air Naval Service in the fight against a new fire in the largest landfill in Panama, which began last Friday and is generating a toxic cloud that covers part of the Panamanian capital and its surroundings. surroundings, the Panamanian Government reported on Monday.
The joint operation began on Monday, when two Colombian aircraft, FAC4019 and FAC1283, and another Panamanian aircraft dumped 5,610 gallons (21,236 liters) of water on the fire, which is registered in the Cerro Patacón landfill, through 23 aerial discharges, the Government through a video distributed to the media.
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“Within 48 hours, and once the mission has been completed, the Colombian planes will return to Bogotá having contributed to avoiding further damage to public health, material damage, possible loss of human life and impact on the environment,” the official information added, according to the which the Colombian military mission arrived in Panama on Sunday.
The new fire in the Cerro Patacón landfill, which is located on the outskirts of Panama City and has been considered an environmental disaster for years, has maintained a toxic cloud cover over the capital since last Saturday, where depending on the time it can smell a strong smell of burning rubber.
The Institute of Meteorology and Hydrology of Panama (IMHPA) renewed for the second time, until midnight this Wednesday, a warning for air pollution in the capital and its surroundings, as well as its request to the population to “maintain “Be careful with respiratory health and allergies due to these toxic gases.”
On the main avenues of Panama’s capital city, you can see some pedestrians and peddlers wearing masks, while others comment that they keep the windows of their houses closed.
Health authorities have reported a certain influx of patients with respiratory problems to health centers located in areas affected by smoke, so far without serious cases.
The Minister of the Environment, Milciades Concepción, told EFE on Monday that they were working “vigorously” to extinguish the fire, whose fight was complicated because “gases such as methane that are combustion” emanate from the landfill, so it could not be expected. that the fire was put out “overnight.”
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So far in 2024, the open-air landfill, which captures more than 40% of all the garbage generated in this country of 4.28 million inhabitants, has suffered several fires, for which the authorities filed a criminal complaint on Monday. in the Public Ministry (MP, Prosecutor’s Office) due to the “suspicion that they are provoked”, as Minister Concepción commented.
The general administrator of the Urban and Home Cleaning Authority, Rafael Prado, announced last Saturday that, on an unspecified date, the temporary three-year operation of Cerro Patacón will be put out to tender, at a cost of US$46.8 million dollars, according to a statement distributed by the Government.
Cerro Patacón is “an environmental, health and image disaster for the country,” has recognized the Government, which is looking for a new company to manage the landfill amid harsh criticism for alleged slowness and lack of transparency.
The landfill covers more than 130 hectares, but the impact of its toxicity reaches about 9 thousand hectares, according to environmental studies.
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