00:00In the Guinean capital of Conakry, daily life for residents and sanitation workers has reached a dead end.
00:07Garbage is piling up everywhere, in the streets and along the sidewalks.
00:11The foul smell makes the air nearly unbreathable.
00:14The illegal dumping poses a threat to health, potentially fostering the outbreak of diseases like cholera.
00:22We can't live with garbage. It's hard with the smell.
00:26Worms start to appear. It's terrible, really terrible.
00:30It can even cause diseases. It's really not good.
00:35The situation began in late August, when heavy rains triggered the trash landslide at a dump in Conakry's Dar es
00:42Salaam neighborhood, killing 36 people.
00:45After the catastrophe, authorities decided to shut the site permanently.
00:49Garbage has been piling up across the capital since then.
00:57Right now, they don't come to collect the garbage.
01:00They used to come twice a week, but sometimes now they can go two or even three weeks without coming.
01:06So I had to look for someone to move the garbage.
01:08We were actually preparing the ground to set fire to it.
01:13The baritode site in the suburb of Koya was meant to be the main dump for the roughly 3,000
01:19tons of waste produced daily in the capital.
01:22But its remote location and heavy traffic congestion have made its full-scale use nearly impossible.
01:33When you don't have the means, you can't get into waste management.
01:37Our difficulties are, first, getting a landfill in Guinea, because we work in the collection and transport of waste.
01:48On Monday, Guinean authorities began rehabilitation work at the Dar es Salaam landfill.
01:53The site will be transformed into a park.
01:55To replace it, a new waste disposal facility is under construction at Baritode.
02:01In the meantime, residents of Conakry and its suburbs will continue to endure the garbage crisis and the health risks
02:06that come with it.
