Cerro Patacon, environmental disaster emblematic of Panama’s waste management problem

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00:00 Instead of a forest, a mountain of waste.

00:04 Litter strewn over roads, polluting waterways.

00:07 Along with the vultures, men collect materials to recycle.

00:11 That's what Jose Mosquera has been doing the last 12 years.

00:15 This is aluminium and these are cans.

00:20 People here come from everywhere.

00:22 Cerro Patacon is a place where people without a job in Panama can earn something.

00:28 Cerro Patacon sometimes bursts into flames, plunging Panama City into thick clouds of smog.

00:36 Nearby residents are the first affected.

00:39 The smoke affects us because it's toxic smoke.

00:44 It gives us headaches, irritates our eyes.

00:47 We're the most affected because we're the most vulnerable.

00:51 Waste management is a national crisis in Panama.

00:56 The result of years of mismanagement and corruption, says this environmental activist.

01:01 I think this mafia has held us back.

01:07 It's prevented us from developing knowledge about how to transform things,

01:12 how to decentralise management,

01:15 and how to manage recyclable materials in a way that's good for the economy.

01:23 But regular Panamanians also have to play their part,

01:26 insists the person responsible for waste management.

01:29 We are responsible for ensuring the collection of waste, we completely agree.

01:34 But society also has the responsibility to properly dispose of its waste.

01:39 So associations like ANCON have set up recycling centres to raise consumer awareness about selective sorting.

01:47 I set up the space.

01:52 You sort through your waste,

01:54 and together we make sure that waste doesn't end up in the river.

01:58 The last government's goal was to close Cerro Patacón within three years

02:04 and replace it with a processing plant.

02:06 With a new government elected earlier this month,

02:09 the future of this landfill is an open question.

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