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00:00 Instead of a forest, a mountain of waste.
00:04 Litter strewn over roads, polluting waterways.
00:07 Along with the vultures, men collect materials to recycle.
00:11 That's what Jose Mosquera has been doing the last 12 years.
00:15 This is aluminium and these are cans.
00:20 People here come from everywhere.
00:22 Cerro Patacon is a place where people without a job in Panama can earn something.
00:28 Cerro Patacon sometimes bursts into flames, plunging Panama City into thick clouds of smog.
00:36 Nearby residents are the first affected.
00:39 The smoke affects us because it's toxic smoke.
00:44 It gives us headaches, irritates our eyes.
00:47 We're the most affected because we're the most vulnerable.
00:51 Waste management is a national crisis in Panama.
00:56 The result of years of mismanagement and corruption, says this environmental activist.
01:01 I think this mafia has held us back.
01:07 It's prevented us from developing knowledge about how to transform things,
01:12 how to decentralise management,
01:15 and how to manage recyclable materials in a way that's good for the economy.
01:23 But regular Panamanians also have to play their part,
01:26 insists the person responsible for waste management.
01:29 We are responsible for ensuring the collection of waste, we completely agree.
01:34 But society also has the responsibility to properly dispose of its waste.
01:39 So associations like ANCON have set up recycling centres to raise consumer awareness about selective sorting.
01:47 I set up the space.
01:52 You sort through your waste,
01:54 and together we make sure that waste doesn't end up in the river.
01:58 The last government's goal was to close Cerro Patacón within three years
02:04 and replace it with a processing plant.
02:06 With a new government elected earlier this month,
02:09 the future of this landfill is an open question.