Troops save Dominican town from drowning in trash

San Cristobal, Dominican Republic.- Numerous heavy equipment and crews from several government agencies converged on San Cristobal (south) Wednesday to deal with the crisis of mounting trash, which prompted the Environment Ministry to declare the city in a state of emergency.

Dozens of Environment Ministry guards were posted in front of City Hall early Wednesday, where former baseball player and mayor Raul Mondesi met for several minutes with Environment minister Bautista Rojas, who presented the plan to clean up the makeshift dumps dotting riverbeds and streets and several points along the Southern Highway.

Although the meeting ended amicably, a tense moment emerged when Rojas cautioned Mondesí not to take over the city’s green areas.

Rojas denied that the measure was political retaliation, as Mondesi claimed, and instead the Government’s response to threats to health and potential diseases from improper waste management.

But Mondesi criticized part of the ruling PLD party’s leadership in the province. "The entire world knows it’s an action intended to jeopardize me.”