In an open letter to the Conille Government, the Odette Roy Fombrun Foundation for Education, concerned about the environmental problems facing the country, "[...] congratulates the Government for becoming aware of the unsanitary state of our cities and the serious consequences for the health of residents, particularly those of Laboule 12, Pétion-ville and its surroundings, due to poor waste management.

However, if we must applaud the late closure of this Laboule sand quarry unexpectedly transformed in recent years into a public dump, we must also demand transparency from the leaders regarding the alternatives considered. Because, to be valid, the measure taken must also propose viable solutions to the management of waste that is currently piling up on every street corner of Pétion-ville and large cities like Le Cap. In the absence of convincing alternatives, the problem is only displaced and will even increase catastrophically !

It is therefore important that the Government, through the Ministries of Environment and Public Health, Local Authorities, Finance and others, convene municipal agents, university managers and researchers, agronomists and other technicians to immediately find viable alternatives to waste management, starting with the municipality of Pétion-ville. This should involve :

1- Sorting waste at source, organic or otherwise;

2- The possibilities of transforming waste into a source of energy for communities (investments in electricity plants from waste)**;

3- The effective ban on styrofoam products and the reduction of polluting plastics that kill the environment and destroy marine flora;

4- The harmonization of relations between private and public sector actors operating in the field.

In addition to the very serious security problem that the country is experiencing, we are facing a major existential public health problem caused by poor waste management, and which cannot wait!

Marie-Claude F. Bayard

Concerned citizen

President

Odette Roy Fombrun Foundation for Education (FORF)

Pétion-ville September 12, 2024"

** N.B. :

"Waste recovery supports the circular economy, promotes the creation of local jobs in the recycling and waste management sector, and helps reduce the volumes of waste sent to landfill, limiting negative environmental impacts."

Some of the waste can be incinerated to produce energy : heat, electricity or both through cogeneration. Organic waste can also be transformed into biogas via methanization, but also into electricity and heat.

Examples :

a) In London, garbage trucks turn into power plants at night;

b) Each year, the Household Waste Incineration Unit (UIOM) of Lasse in Maine-et-Loire (France) sells more than 50 GWh of electricity thanks to the energy recovery of approximately 100,000 tons of waste. 116 UIOM in France in 2022 generate 80% of the energy produced by the country's waste;

c) The French multinational Veolia has started operating a waste-to-energy plant in Istanbul with an annual processing capacity of 1.1 million tons of household waste. When it reaches full power, it will produce 560,000 megawatt hours of electricity each year thanks to its 85 megawatt turbine.

HL/ HaitiLibre