Weeks of Trash Finally Collected in Tibás

THE Municipality of Tibás this weekbegan clearing away the hundreds of tonsof trash that had piled up on the streets ofTibás, north of San José, for the past threeweeks, according to Oscar Sánchez, headof trash collection for the municipality.With the help of the private companyWPP, the municipality worked over theweekend to pick up residential trash,including a pile that angry residents haddumped at the Municipal building inprotest.Mountains of trash had been piling upfor weeks, causing bad odors that pervadedthe city’s streets. The trash was theproduct of a fight between Tibás MayorPercy Rodríguez and the MunicipalCouncil, according to the daily LaNación. Rodríguez alleges the council hasnot approved enough funds for gas fortrash collection. Trash collection was suspendedin early November.The Ministry of Public Health filed acomplaint last week with the Prosecutor’sOffice against the municipality, specificallyMayor Rodríguez and MunicipalCouncil president Lilliana Beer. They facea punishment of one to four years if convicted,Channel 7 TV News reported.The prosecutor in charge of the casemust determine if the case should go totrial, or if it can be avoided if streets arekept clean, according to the report.“Non-traditional” trash, including furnitureand large items, was also clearedaway from streets and corners this week,according to Sánchez.“From here on out everything will benormal,” Sánchez said. He added that themunicipality is still operating with twotrucks – instead of the necessary five –but had hopes for two trucks to be out ofthe repair shop by the end of this week.