Residents living near the Aterro do Barlavento Algarvio, in the municipalities of Portimão and Silves, demonstrated today to demand an inspection of the structure. They complain about the bad smell and a plague of flies, which prevents them from leaving the house.
Residents did not want to stop transporting waste to the landfill, but it is what the trucks carry that make them leave their homes. For those who live nearby, the landfill is taking away their quality of life, and they provide evidence of what worries them.
Residents speak in a large number of flies present in this locationclaiming that it is a desperate situation for the inhabitants.
O landfill has been operating for 28 yearson the border between the municipalities of Portimão, Silves and Monchique. Around 500 residents complain that the impacts have worsened.
“What we want is for waste and sanitation to be properly treated. The landfill, most likely, is not being done correctly”, he highlights Vanessa Pereira, from the Odelouca and Porto de Lagos Residents Association.
Aa waste treatment concessionary company, refuses to believe that the landfill is the source of the problem, because nothing detects that it could be causing what residents complain about.
And even remember that it is frequently inspected. Still, it is noted that the The landfill is almost full and an expansion is on the way.
For Maxime Bispo, vice-president of Silves City Council, It “doesn’t make sense” to make this expansion.
“I think the focus at this moment should be on correcting the anomalies”, he says.
Os residents promise to return to the streetsuntil they can at least see how the landfill works with their own eyes.
