Miches is a municipality with great potential to promote ecotourism, thanks to its wide natural and cultural diversity. However, the large number of open-air dumps, neighborhoods on the outskirts of the coast with a high degree of contamination from plastic waste, fabric waste, glass, cardboard and decomposing organic waste, pose a risk to the sustainable development of the municipality.
For this reason, the German Development Cooperation (GIZ), through the “Circular Caribbean” and “Resilient El Seibo” projects implemented on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and the European Union (EU), presented the “Cleaner Miches” initiative, supported by the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources, the Mayor’s Office of Miches and civil society.
The “Cleaner Miches” initiative seeks to develop a solid waste management strategy, promote the prevention of plastic and environmental care in society through the classification of plastic waste at the source, as well as the design of collection routes for this waste in order to channel it to an authorized manager that guarantees its integral use.
It will focus on the design of a strategic model with emphasis on the elimination and prevention of the use of plastics that promotes the proper management and reduction of waste at the household, hotel and commercial scale, in the areas of intervention, initially in the seven communities that make up the Los Franceses sector and in a second phase, the Urban Center of Miches, to prevent their final destination from being the sea.
The actions will be linked to participatory local governance processes led by the Mayor’s Office of Miches, the creation of a collection center and the promotion of plastic recycling micro-enterprises with local artisans, as well as community involvement and awareness programs through the arts. Ultimately, this will ensure the local development of the municipality towards a new circular economy culture, a model of production and consumption that involves sharing, renting, reusing, repairing, renewing and recycling existing materials and products as often as possible.
The mayor of Miches, Luz María Mercedes, thanked the efforts of the institutions and civil society of Miches to prevent solid waste and preserve natural areas.
She also highlighted the transformation of the current municipal landfill into a controlled solid waste disposal site and the installation of a “circular station”, which will serve as a collection point for solid waste with a potential for recovery, such as PET.
Peter Sommer, Componente’s coordinator in the Dominican Republic for Caribe Circular, said that the collaborative implementation of this initiative will allow Miches to have public spaces free of plastic waste. The population, from the youngest, will have the opportunity to learn about marine debris and how to prevent it.
Mara Beez, local coordinator of the Resilient El Seibo project, highlighted the great commitment of the community to the sustainable development of the municipality.
“The future of the municipality, and ultimately of the planet, depends on our present actions. We need alliances between various actors, such as the one formalized today, and the commitment of each one is also required, because every small contribution counts,” she added.
During the meeting, a public-private collaboration letter was signed between the Miches Mayor’s Office, the Education District 12-04 of the Ministry of Education (Minerd), the El Seibo-Miches Hotel and Tourism Association (ProMiches), the Tropicalia Foundation and the GIZ’s Caribe Circular regional project for the implementation of the “Cleaner Miches” initiative.
Each of the institutions committed to the development of an educational campaign to promote the reduction and prevention of plastic waste in Miches.
More than 90 people participated in the launching event, including Sorivel Núñez, director of Educational District 12-04; Yamil Isaías, president of ProMiches; Sofía Perazzo, president of Fundación Tropicalia, among others.
Source: Arecoa
