Rats, dengue and an all-day stench: can Panama City solve its waste crisis?

For decades, mountains of waste have blighted poor neighbourhoods on the edge of the city. But as the problems spread, a belated reckoning is under way Life in San Miguelito has long been dictated by rubbish. Routes to the shop are carefully navigated to avoid pungent mountains o

For decades, mountains of waste have blighted poor neighbourhoods on the edge of the city. But as the problems spread, a belated reckoning is under way Life in San Miguelito has long been dictated by rubbish. Routes to the shop are carefully navigated to avoid pungent mountains of rotting waste, some visible from space.

Driving during the rainy season is a perilous obstacle course, dodging black bin bags and rusty fridges in the middle of the road. Children are taught early to avoid the river, the rubbish, the rats, yet mosquito-borne diseases still stalk the community. For Yamileth, who lives with her family on one of the steep, narrow streets that thread the hillside neighbourhood, the waste is a constant backdrop to daily life.

Mornings are punctuated by the stench and buzz of flies, and in the evenings you can hear rats scuttling and stray dogs rustling as they rip open bags in search of food among the rubbish heaps, known in slang as patacones (also the name of a staple side dish made from green plantains). Continue reading...