The ongoing war in Yemen since March 2015 has exacerbated the health and the environmental situation in Taiz governorate, located in the southwest of the country. However, this could portend an environmental and health catastrophe because of the waste landfill, which is located in the southwest of the city, only one kilometer away from it, especially, in light of the spread of epidemics and diseases.
The waste landfill is also located near the groundwater wells—which are the only water storage that covers the needs of the people of the city—and in a residential areas in the countryside of Al-Dabab, which is considered one of the most important agricultural and tourist areas. Besides, it is the only outlet for the citizens of Taiz City as a result of the suffocating siege imposed by the Ansar Allah (Houthi) group on the city.
The effects resulting from the destruction and burning of waste landfills, as is the case in the city of Taiz (southwest of Yemen), are among the greatest risks that may claim the lives of dozens of people and animals. In addition to infectious diseases resulting from garbage burning and continuous air pollution.
Moreover, two-thirds of these decomposed organic materials from the wastes of homes, companies, and hospitals in the city contain toxic gases that greatly affect the air that living organisms inhale, and also the combustion of wastes in the nearby air emit a foul odor.
A picture for one of the wells in Al-Dabab countryside in Taiz, which is located near the waste landfill – Photo by: Khaled Al-Qadi - © Khuyut
Wadie Al-Sharjabi, an environmental specialist, tells “Khuyut” that there are many risks facing humans and the surrounding environment, including the effect of toxic gases on the population emitted by the combustion smoke, in addition to being a source of breeding for insects and other harmful organisms that transmit many diseases.
The health authorities in Taiz are aware of the danger of remaining the garbage landfill in Al-Shihab gardens, but they are unable to find available alternatives, which exacerbates its danger to the health and environmental situation.
The landfills affect the bio-system in the area, by attracting and bringing in rats, crows, and insects, instead of mammals and birds. Likewise, there are changes in the vegetation cover as some plant species are replaced by others. Further, people are more vulnerable to infectious diseases, congenital malformations, cancer, and respiratory diseases.
These risks threaten the groundwater in the Al-Dabab area, which is considered an essential artery for most of the residents of the city of Taiz. As It meets the population's drinking water needs by more than 30%, in light of the ongoing war and conflict in Yemen and the siege that the city of Taiz is suffering from. But unfortunately, this groundwater storage is vulnerable to water pollution due to the garbage landfill, which is only hundreds of meters away from it, which may cause a real water crisis for the people of the city.
Wadea adds, "Its danger to the groundwater in the area and the surrounding environment lies in the fact that the landfill is in a high place, and the leaching leakage of wastes, including harmful materials, may move deep into the soil and mix with water."
Accumulation of Waste and Toxins
In the same context, the landfills affect the groundwater through the formation of leachate leakage or what you’ll hear people call “garbage soup.” , where liquid waste usually accumulates in landfills, even if it is in small quantities.
The environmental specialist, Wadie Al-Sharjabi, continues his speech by saying: "There is also a place specified for the leachate leakage and runoffs coming from the rain during the rainy seasons, and therefore these wastes are washed away and the harmful materials moved with the running water."
According to the World Health Organization, the landfills can cause drinking water pollution, as rains falling on landfill sites decompose organic and inorganic materials, forming highly toxic substances that seep into the groundwater and which contain high levels of toxic metals, ammonia, and hazardous organic compounds, and therefore, these harmful chemicals may reach rivers and lakes.
Landfills in Residential Areas
The ongoing war and conflict in Yemen since 2015 have caused the closure of the road leading to the official waste landfill of the city, which is located in the "Mafraq Sharaab" area in the northwest of the city of Taiz. However, with the continuation of the conflict, the local authority in the governorate resorted to building a new landfill in the Al-Dhabab area, the western entrance to the city.
On the other hand, the former director of the Cleanliness and Improvement Office, Abdullah Jassar, explains to "Khuyut", saying: "Everyone knows that the current garbage landfill is temporary, until the siege imposed on the city by the Houthis is opened, and then the garbage landfill will return to its main place."
Nevertheless, the health authorities in Taiz are aware of the danger of remaining the garbage landfill in Al-Shihab gardens, but they are unable to find available alternatives, which exacerbates its danger to the health and environmental situation.
Jassar continues, "There may be negative effects on the area and the population, but the alternative could be more harmful, and we, as a local authority, cannot provide an alternative landfill."
Health Damage and Deformities
Residents of the Aqaqa area, which is close to the garbage landfill, complain of rising smoke resulting from the combustion of waste, which causes them persistent health symptoms.
AbdulKareem Mohammed, one of the residents of the area, tells "Khuyut": "For eight years we have been suffering from the garbage landfill because of the smoke and flies that come from it, which caused us many diseases, but there is no life for those who call."
Moreover, the war turned Al-Shahab gardens from a park where everyone was heading for a walk and picnic, into a garbage landfill where the remaining waste is thrown. So, the areas where the waste is collected become breeding grounds for bacteria and bad smell. Furthermore, it also affects the landscape, and the houses near the landfills are usually become cheap because of the insects surrounding them. Abdulkarim continues: "Before the war, it was a tourist area where people flocked from everywhere. But now, no one wants to live here anymore; houses have become worthless and cheap".
In addition to the other effects that caused by the garbage landfills on the soil quality, agricultural crops and biodiversity, which may cause the elimination of the growth of trees and agricultural plants.
