DM creates commission will restructure Duquesa’s landfill

Yesterday, President Danilo Medina created the Presidential Commission for the Restructuring of the Duchess Open Sky Dump, composed of 15 institutions, including ministries, town halls, a district, and a municipal board. It is chaired by the Ministry of the Presidency.

Its purpose is to coordinate and implement three main actions: the rehabilitation of the site where the dump operates, its technical closure and the planning for the construction of a sanitary landfill for the final disposal of the waste of the Great Santo Domingo.

The measure was adopted by decree 21-20, released by the Presidency of the Republic, and will be valid until December 31, 2021. As part of its functions, according to the decree, are the stabilization of the operation to mitigate the impact of the environmental and health crisis as a previous step for its subsequent technical closure.

The Commission will develop an action plan with diagnostic studies on the solid waste situation in Greater Santo Domingo.

In that plan, there will be short, medium and long term actions to meet the objectives of the commission established in the decree that also seeks to provide a comprehensive solution to the problem of solid waste.

According to the decree, the commission will have the mission to coordinate and verify compliance with the plan. To do this, among other measures, it will form a technical team of officials and experts from different entities and honorary advisors experts in waste management.

The commission is composed of the Ministries of Environment and Natural Resources, Public Works and Communications, Health and Economy, Planning and Development, the Santo Domingo Aqueduct and Sewer Corporation, the Dominican Municipal League and the municipalities of the National District, Santo Domingo Norte, Este, Los Alcarrizos and Pedro Brand. Also, the municipal district of Pantoja and the Municipal Board of La Guáyiga.

Subsequently, each institution will continue with the responsibilities arising from the action plan.