There is at least 40 tons of garbage generated daily by the municipality of Jocotepec. Photo: Archive.

Héctor Ruiz Mejía.- A total of 25 tons of garbage was generated during the patron saint festivities in honor of the Señor del Monte in the municipality of Jocotepec.

According to municipal authorities an additional two tons of waste was accumulated each day of the festivities, not counting the 40 tons that the municipality generates daily.

This represents that a single person in Jocotepec generates around one kilo of garbage per day, a worrying situation due to the collapse of the municipality’s garbage collection service. 

It is unknown how much effort City Hall made to get rid of the extra 25 tons of garbage accumulated by the festivities. Residents in distant neighborhoods were upset by the delays in their collection services. «They only picked up the garbage from the downtown area, to make it look nice, but around here we have been well abandoned,» commented one of the neighbors from a remote area of the city.

Although it has not yet been confirmed, users who travel daily along the highway that connects to the Guadalajara-Morelia highway, assured that at least a ton of garbage was dumped in a clandestine manner.

The 13 days of festivities for the Señor del Monte, generated 25 extra tons of garbage. Photo: Archive.

«It is clear to us that they are using this space as a provisional dump, but we are not sure if it is legal or not», explained one of the passers-by, who preferred to keep his name anonymous.

Although this newspaper requested information regarding the situation of the «clandestine» landfill, the City Council has not yet confirmed whether they have the corresponding permits to use this space.

This new dump is located approximately 60 meters before taking the Jocotepec freeway and the users themselves said that the garbage is «dumped there in plain view of anyone passing by».

So far, the fate of the garbage generated by the festivities is unknown. Residents of the municipality, such as «Conchita», have expressed concern about the sanitary situation and have had bins waiting to be picked up for days or even weeks. 

Translated by Christalle Dalsted