As thick smoke spread through the narrow streets of Havana, seeping into homes, schools and shops, Carlos Blanco, a chef, opened his bedroom window to see what was going on. \u201cI saw a mist. But it wasn\u2019t mist \u2013 it was smoke,\u201d he says, describing the toxic smog emanating from a smouldering mountain of rubbish.<\/p>\n
As the US oil blockade<\/a> on Cuba enters its fourth month, choking off most of the island\u2019s fuel supplies<\/a>, growing mounds of waste lie on street corners across Havana. Amid fuel scarcity, authorities have opted to ration petrol by reducing waste collection, leaving less than half of Havana\u2019s rubbish trucks operational<\/a>.<\/p>\n Rubbish burns in a densely populated area of Havana\u2019s city centre. Photograph: Euan Wallace\/The Guardian<\/p>\n Many desperate Cubans throw their household waste into the street rather than let it fester in their homes as they wait for collection. With removal reduced, the government has allowed rubbish to be burned in crowded urban areas, with authorities designating 122 temporary waste collection points in Havana, at 24 of which there is \u201ccontrolled incineration\u201d.<\/p>\n double quotation mark<\/p>\n Substances from waste \u2026 can persist in the environment for years and in the human body for a decade<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Cuban Neuroscience Center<\/p>\n Yet burning rubbish in the open air not only has harmful effects on health, it also pollutes the air, soil and water<\/a>. The state-run Cuban Neuroscience Center has said<\/a> that unofficial fires \u2013 which it says burn at lower, inconsistent temperatures \u2013 are more perilous than controlled ones.<\/p>\n \u201cThis releases substances from the waste and creates new ones as molecules break down and re-form in the flames \u2026 [which] can persist in the environment for years and in the human body for perhaps a decade or more,\u201d warned the health body.<\/p>\n Doctors fear the increase in piles of rubbish is damaging public health. Photograph: Euan Wallace\/The Guardian<\/p>\n However, Alexis Gonz\u00e1lez Incl\u00e1n, a sanitation department official, justified the measures. \u201cThey are not ideal from an environmental standpoint, but they serve to mitigate risks to public health and urban order,\u201d he told the news outlet Cubadebate<\/a>.<\/p>\n As informal rubbish fires continue to blaze across the capital, residents fear possible health effects. At a clothing market in central Havana, Yani Cabrera dons a face mask as plumes of white smoke seep into her shop, smothering the terraced buildings and the busy street outside.<\/p>\n \u201cSome guys from the street lit [the fire],\u201d Cabrera says, pointing at the burning pile of rubbish. \u201cI use this [mask] when there is a lot of smoke \u2026 I\u2019m worried because this is dangerous.\u201d<\/p>\n Yani Cabrera outside her shop in central Havana, where she wears a mask when there is a lot of smoke. Photograph: Euan Wallace\/The Guardian<\/p>\n Cabrera notes that burning waste has increased since the US imposed its blockade in December and January, and has little hope things will improve soon. \u201cWe have to try to survive and hang in there because things aren\u2019t getting any better,\u201d she says. \u201cWhat can we do?\u201d<\/p>\n double quotation mark<\/p>\n At the hospital, we\u2019ve seen an increase in hygiene-related illnesses and gastrointestinal issues<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Dr Maria Salvador*<\/p>\n While the smoke from rubbish fires poses medical and environmental risks, some Cubans view it as the lesser of two evils. Francisco Castillo lives in a decaying house in central Havana. Opposite his home, passersby throw rubbish bags and rotten food on to an ever-growing heap of refuse, attracting swarms of flies.<\/p>\n He says trucks used to collect the waste once a week. Since the blockade, they come once a month. \u201cSince there is no proper oversight and no collection, the result is an epidemic of flies, rats, waste and foul odours,\u201d Castillo says. Flies buzz around his house, even though he keeps his front door shut and burns insect-repellent incense.<\/p>\n As Cuba approaches the rainy season, which runs from May to November, uncollected waste piles threaten to trigger a fresh wave of mosquito-borne illnesses<\/a>.<\/p>\n Flies and mosquitoes still come from the rubbish piles into Francisco Castillo\u2019s home despite his efforts to keep them out. Photograph: Euan Wallace\/The Guardian<\/p>\n \u201cThe flies outside come inside your house. But you\u2019re eating, and those flies might spread poo on to your food. And that\u2019s food you\u2019re going to eat,\u201d says Castillo, who has first-hand experience of the risks posed by uncollected rubbish. In January, he contracted the painful mosquito-borne disease chikungunya<\/a>.<\/p>\n Castillo burns mosquito-repelling incense to try to keep pests away. Photograph: Euan Wallace\/The Guardian<\/p>\n \u201cI was bitten by the chikungunya mosquito, and I was really, really sick for a few days,\u201d says Castillo, who could not walk due to the pain in his limbs.<\/p>\n Poor waste collection has been linked to mosquito-borne illnesses, with the Aedes aegypti species proliferating in stagnant water that pools in discarded plastic in rubbish tips, causing a chikungunya epidemic late last year that affected as much as a third of the island\u2019s population.<\/p>\n A wave of other health problems in Cuba has also been fuelled by the piles of rubbish, according to Dr Maria Salvador*.<\/p>\n \u201cAt the hospital, we\u2019ve seen an increase in hygiene-related illnesses and gastrointestinal issues,\u201d the doctor says, noting an increase in hepatitis, particularly among children. \u201cIt is harder to keep an eye on kids \u2013 everything they put in their mouths, their tendency to wander off, and everything they eat while in the street.\u201d<\/p>\n At the foot of many of Havana\u2019s informal waste tips, children can be seen playing marbles on the ground and chasing each other. Dogs gnaw at discarded scraps, while some desperate locals pick through the rubbish in search of something to sell.<\/p>\n Desperate locals search for anything valuable in Havana waste dumps. Photograph: Euan Wallace\/The Guardian<\/p>\n Not only are collection trucks unable to clear rubbish, but fumigation also demands petrol and chemicals, which have become prohibitively expensive due to the blockade. Diego Sanchez*, the owner of a private fumigation company, reports that many of his costs have increased tenfold since the US imposed oil restrictions.<\/p>\n He is convinced that inadequate fumigation will probably lead to another mosquito infestation in Cuba. \u201cIt\u2019s going to stay the same this year, because there aren\u2019t any clear solutions yet,\u201d he says, adding that the public health crisis is likely to only get worse. \u201cI imagine [diseases] will continue to rise if nothing changes.\u201d<\/p>\n Faced with a mounting public health crisis, authorities are trying to adapt their waste management system. In March, the government launched \u201cCuba Recycles\u201d, a year-long initiative aimed at increasing awareness about recycling and introducing new collection points for recyclable waste. \u201cHere we don\u2019t have a culture of recycling. None,\u201d notes Blanco, the Havana chef.<\/p>\n Waste is collected only once a month in Havana city centre. Photograph: Euan Wallace\/The Guardian<\/p>\n Most of the city\u2019s waste is sent to what residents call El Bote del 100 (The Dump on 100th street), a landfill just a few kilometres from central Havana. Home to 52m cubic metres<\/a> (1.8bn cubic ft) of waste piled at heights of up to 25 metres, the rubbish tip is a 105-hectare (260-acre) wasteland of smouldering garbage and black flies, with nearby communities complaining about noxious fumes spilling into their homes.<\/p>\n