Sremska Mitrovica – Dijana Šćekić Aštalkovski – Robert Žuljević
Istraživanje je izvršeno uz podršku Danskog udruženja za Istraživačko Novinarstvo

I u Vojvodini se beleži sve veći broj divljih deponija, koje su posledica ili velikog nemara građana ili slabe kaznene politike.
Grad Sremska Mitrovica, i okolna sela, nekoliko godina se bore sa ovim problemom. Neovlašćeno odlaganje smeća se dešavalo na celoj teritoriji Srema ali je medijsku pažnju najčešće dobijalo selo Laćarak koje se nalazi u blizini Sremske Mitrovice, pa je i zbog toga postalo očito da problem treba rešavati.

U 2007.godini, Opština Sremska Mitrovica uspostavila je program saniranja divljih deponija i dobila mogućnost da za ove namene sredstva dobije od vlade Srbije. Divlja deponija između Laćarka i Martinaca bila je stara 25 godina, a prostirala se na 19.000 metara kvadratnih. Procenjuje se da se samo na toj deponiji nalazilo oko 15.000 tona otpada. Za saniranje smeća na konkursu Fonda za zaštitu životne sredine odobreno je 10 miliona dinara i potpisan ugovor za projekat ‘’Očistimo divlju deponiju u Laćarku’’.

Projekt je završen do kraja 2009.godine, deponija je uklonjena za dvadesetak dana, nakon čega je zemljište rekultivisano i posađeno je drveće.

Ali samo na papiru. Nakon završetka radova na uklanjanju divljih deponija, nicale bi druge koje ne mogu biti sanirane dok se ne sklope novi dogovori sa Vladom Srbije.

2010.godine selo Laćarak ponovo dobija medijsku pažnju, jer je nova divlja deponija ponovo pretila ekološkim problemom.

Dnevne novine Kurir, objavile su tekst pod naslovom , HOROR: U SREMSKOJ MITROVICI JEDU UGINULE SVINJE!
Na deponiji životinjskih leševa kod Sremske Mitrovice meštani sa uginulih zaraznih svinja seku butke i plećke. Ne zna se da li ih jedu, prodaju, daju kerovima – pisao je novinar Kurira.

Deponija u selu Laćarak, ponovo se pojavila nekoliko stotina metara dalje od one koja je prošle godine očišćena i izmeštena. Novonastala deponija je u gorem stanju nego što je bila prošla i predstavlja ekološku bombu.

Ove takozvane divlje deponije stvaraju građani koji bacaju svoje smeće na mesto koje nije predvođeno za to i u ozbiljnoj meri ugrožavaju zdravlje celokupnog stanovništva.

Sremska Mitrovica ima gradsku deponiju na četiri kilometra od divlje deponije u Laćarku, ali nažalost, malo stanovnika ovog mesta je koristi.
Po tvrdnjama nadležnih u Sremskoj Mitrovici, opštini kojoj pripada selo Laćarak organizovne su i inspekcijske akcije, čistili se kanali po selima u koje su meštani takođe bacali uginule životinje, ali nažalost, efekta nema .
Divlja odlagališta koja prvobitno imaju vizuelan loš efekat mogu na više načina ugroziti zdravlje ljudi koji preturaju po takvom odlagalištima ili okolnog stanovništva, kao i zagađenje vazduha, vode i zemljišta.
Te divlje deponije se redovno zapale, pa osim jasne opasnosti koju požar predstavlja I dim koji potiče od otpada koji gori vrlo verovatno sadrži otrovne materije štetne za zdravlje stanovništva.
Zdravstveni i sigurnosni rizik tiče se mogućeg širenja bolesti i infekcija zbog prisustva mogućih prenosnika zaraze (muve, glodari, ptice, životinje,…) na divljoj deponiji.
Mogući zdravstveni rizik za ljude je znatan, posebno kod stanovništva koja žive u blizini ovakvih deponija, tj. kontaminacija okolnog stanovništva vodom, vazduhom i hranom.

Dr Jasmina Jandrić Kočić iz Centra za kontrolu i prevenciju bolesti Sremska Mitrovice, kaže da divlje deponije predstavljaju i ekonomski gubitak jer se zbog deponija troše sredstva i za potrebe lečenja građana i odsustvovanja s posla, jer ma koliko da je smetlište udaljeno od građana, zbog kruženja materija u prirodi, opasne materije ipak pronalaze put do pijaće vode – preko zemljišta, poljoprivrednih proizvoda, životinja i putem vazduha što je uzrok brojnih oboljenja.
Čest otpad su automobili, akumulatori, šporeti, delovi računarske opreme i motorno ulje, a te tvari (teški metali-produkti raspadanja metalnog otpada, pesticidi, bakterije,….) imaju toksično i karcenogeno dejstvo na ljude, životinje i bilje, koje se kasnije prenosi kroz generacije, kad jednom dospeju u tlo i vodotokove ne poznaju granice privatnog i državnog zemljišta.

Kad je u pitanju širenje zaraznih bolesti, poznato je da su divlje deponije izvor zaraze pre svega za crevne zarazne bolesti, šugu, kao i bolesti koje prenose insekti i glodari. Na divljim deponijama postoje pogodni uslovi za množenje insekata (krpelji, buba švabe, muve, komarci,) i glodara ( pacovi i miševi) koji su sa svoje strane prenosioci mnogih zaraznih bolesti.
Glodari čiji broj enormno raste na divljim deponijama i u široj okolini, su potencijalni prenosioci tularemije, leptospiroze, bruceloze, salmoneloze, hemoragične groznice, besnila, lajšamanijaze i trihineloze.
Epidemije se najčešće šire kontaktnim putem to jest prljavim rukama, ali i kontaminiranom hranom koju donose sa ovih deponija ili hidrično ukoliko dođe do zagađenja vodotokova koji se koriste i za snabdevanje vodom za piće. Na ovaj način stvaraju se uslovi za širenje epidemija u naseljima u kojima su locirane divlje deponije.
Saniranje divljih deponija na teritoriji Opštine Sremska Mitrovica bilo bi od neprocenjivog značaja za zdravlje svih stanovnika opštine kao i za očuvanje zdrave životne sredine, rekla je Dr Jasmina Jandrić Kočić .
Najugroženiji građani koji se direktno graniče sa smetlištem, kao i proizvođači poljoprivrednih kultura preko čijih njiva se baca otpad, tako da iste ne mogu da se koriste.

– Niko sa strane nije dovezao to smeće, već su ga, nažalost, bacili sami stanovnici Laćarka i Martinaca, a često se osim svakodnevnog otpada, na divlju deponiju baca i stoka – kaže meštanin Radoslav Kosanović i dodaje da se stoka baca jer u blizini ne postoji kafilerija.

Fabrika mesa i mesnih prerađevina „Mitros“ u Sremskoj Mitrovici je više od dve godine u stečaju, a u sklopu poslovanja Mitrosa je radila i kafilerija. Kafilerija sada ne radi, i ako postoji potreba da radi jer se po njivama i kanalima bacaju konfiska­ti što je veliki problem.

Meštani dva sela. Laćarak i Martinci, uginule životinje bacaju na divlju deponiju sami ili, kako tvrdi Kosanović, u selu postoji i mogućnost da za samo 1.000 dinara, higijeničar obiđe seoska gazdinstva i odnese uginulu životinju iz dvorišta.

Najblize kafilerije se nalaze u Somboru i Zrenjaninu, meštanima se ne iplati da ako im ugine svinja od 100 kilograma, putuju u neko od ova dva mesta jer je kilometraža velika, gorivo košta a i kafilerije naplaćuju preuzimanje stoke 14.00 dinara po kilogramu – kaže meštanin Radoslav Kosanović.

Stanovnici ovog sela, su uglavnom, bez osnovnih znanja o bolestima koje ih vrebaju. Izjašnjavaju se da para nema i da je to jedina mogućnost da se reše uginule stoke.

Mali broj meštana, zna da su ove deponije veliki problem – Vidim da moje komšije paze decu, da ne odu do deponija, pacova ima, pa se plašimo i trihineloze, rekla je meštanka Lašarka, Dragana.M.

Dom zdravlja u Laćarku organizuje susrete između meštana sela i lekara Doma zdravlja, i po njihovim evidencijama, pokazalo se da su meštani ipak dobro upućeni koje sve rizike po ljudsko zdravlje nose divlje deponije, koje su u njihovoj neposrednoj blizini.

U Domu zdravlja kažu da u selu Laćarak tokom 2010. i 2011. godine nije bilo pojave epidemije žutice, kao i drugih zaraznih bolesti čiji uzročnik neposredno može biti divlja deponija, dodaju i to da kad bude pojava jednog ili dva slučaja žutice to ne smatraju alarmantim.

U cilju suzbijanja pojave žutice, kao i drugih bolesti koje se mogu dobiti zbog nehigijenskih uslova, Dom zdravlja Sremska Mitrovica svaki drugi mesec na teritoriji sela Laćarak organizuje Bazar zdravlja, gde meštane sela informiše o bolestima kao i prevenciji bolesti koje se mogu dobiti usled nehigijenskih uslova života.

Kako divlje deponije, imaju i svoje „stanovnike” ( Romi, socijalno ugroženi i pripadnici marginalizovanih populacija), oni u većoj meri oboljevaju od ovih zaraznih bolesti, koje potom prenose u svoja naselja, među komšije, prijatelje i rodbinu.
Romi se uglavnom ne kontrolišu, tako da postoji mogućnost da je broj obolelih u toku godine ipak veći, ali to nije evidentirano.

Možda se uskoro reši problem bacanja uginule stoke na divlje deponije, jer po najavama nadležnih u lokalnoj samoupravi prodaja „Mitrosa“, fabrike koja je imala i kafileriju, mogla bi da očekuje do kraja januara.
Sekretar Odbora za agrar Sremske privredne komore Vladimir Vlaović.- kaže da je upućen zahtev Gradu da se tokom nove prodaje iz „Mitrosa“ izuzme kafilerija i od nje napravi javno preduzeće koje će raditi u interesu celog grada.

Za sada, deponije rastu, otpad se baca i u okolini Grada Sremska Mitrovica. Pravo rešenje je da se poboljša svest ljudi, da je za kvalitet njihovog zivota važno da svoj otpad bacaju na Gradsku deponiju i da se podrži inicijativa Sremske privredne komore, da Kafilerija radi u interesu gradjana, smatraju naši sagovornici, meštani Laćarka.

„Former“ wild landfills

The study was conducted with support from the Danish Association for Investigative Journalism

Wild landfills that reappear even after being sanitized are a problem of many cities in Serbia.

An increasing number of wild landfills can also be seen in Vojvodina. These landfills are the result of either great irresponsibility of the people, or of inadequate punishment policy.

City of Sremska Mitrovica, and its surrounding villages, have been fighting with this problem for several years. Unauthorized disposal of garbage has been occurring on the entire area of Srem, but the media often turned its attention to Laćarak which is situated near Sremska Mitrovica. Because of this it became evident that the problem needed dealing with.

In 2007. the municipality of Sremska Mitrovica established a program for sanitizing wild landfills and was given the opportunity to utilize government funds for accomplishing this goal. The wild landfill situated between villages Laćarak and Martinci was 25 years old and had an area of over 19000 square meters. It is estimated that this landfill alone had over 15000 tons of waste. Fund for Environmental Protection approved 10 million dinars for sanitizing the wild landfill under the „Let’s sanitize the Laćarak wild landfill“ project.

The project was finished by the end of 2009. The wild landfill was removed within 20 days after which the land was recultivated and trees have been planted.

But only on paper. New landfills would form even after the work of removing the wild landfills was finished. These new landfills would not be sanitized until a new agreement was made with the government of Serbia.

In 2010. the village of  Laćarak received more media attention. A new wild landfill threatened to become an ecological problem.

Daily newspaper – “Kurir” released a report with the title: “Horror: Deceased pigs are being eaten in Sremska Mitrovica!”

On the landfill for animal carcasses near Sremska Mitrovica townspeople are cutting off legs and shoulder blades from dead, diseased pigs. It is unknown weather they are eating, selling or giving them to the dogs – the Kurir’s reporter wrote.

Wild landfill in the village of  Laćarak reappeared a few hundred meters from the one that got sanitized last year. The new landfill is in an even worth state and it represents an ecological bomb.

These, so called, wild landfills are being made by citizens that are throwing their waste where it is not planned. Because of this the well-being of the entire town is compromised.

Sremska Mitrovica has a city landfill four kilometers away form the wild landfill in Laćarak, but unfortunately, only a handful of people are using it.

According to the authorized people in Sremska Mitrovica, the municipality to which Laćarak belongs, there have been organized inspections, the canals, in which the people have also been throwing away deceased animals, have also been cleaned, but, unfortunately, to no effect.

Wild landfills, which foremost have a bad visual effect, can harm, in more than one way, the health of the people who are digging through the waste or the surrounding citizens. The land, air and water are no exceptions to this rule.

These wild landfills are often lit on fire, and in addition to the public danger of the fire spreading to the nearby places, the fumes coming from the fire are comprised of substances that are harmful to the health of the general population.

Sanitary and safety risks involve possible spreading of diseases and infections because of the presence of possible disease carriers (flies, rodents, birds, animals) on the wild landfill.

Possible health risk to the people is considerable, especially to the people that live near wild landfills such as this one, being it contamination of the population by water, air, food or otherwise.

Dr. Jasmina Jandrić Kočić from the Center for disease control and prevention of Sremska Mitrovica says that wild landfills are also an economical loss because resources are being spent to sanitize them, to threat the people that get infected and they are also not going to work because of their illnesses. No matter how far the landfill is situated from the general population, because of the circulation of matter, dangerous materials find their way to drinking water – by land, agronomic products, animals or by air. This is what causes the numerous diseases.

Common waste are cars, car batteries, stoves, computer parts and motor oil. These materials (heavy metals, products of decomposition of metal, pesticides, bacterias etc.) have a toxic and carcinogenic effect on people, animals and plants and they are spread through generations. Once they reach into the ground and water-flows they know no private or state borders.

It is well known that wild landfills are the source of many diseases, but primarily intestinal infections, scabies, as well as disease carried by insects and rodents. Wild landfills have suitable conditions for reproduction of insects (ticks, cockroaches, flies, mosquitoes) and rodents (rats, mice) that are carriers of many diseases.

The number of rodents increases exponentially near wild landfills and they are potential carriers of tularemia, leptospirosis, brucellosis, salmonellosis, hemorrhagic fever, rabies, trichinosis and leishmaniosis.

An epidemic is most commonly spread by contact (“dirty hands”), but also by contaminated food that they bring from wild landfills, or by contaminated water that is used for drinking. In this way, the conditions are created for the spreading of epidemics in the villages that  are located near wild landfills.

Sanitation of wild landfills on the territory of the Municipality of Sremska Mitrovica would be of paramount importance for the people of the municipality and for the preservation of the environment, said Dr. Jasmina Jandrić Kočić.

Most threatened are the citizens who are living near the landfills, as well as manufacturers of agricultural crops, whose fields are being used for dumping waste, which in turn cannot be used for agronomy.

No one from the side brought all that waste. It was, unfortunately, brought here by the people of Laćarak and Martinci themselves. Often, beside the everyday waste, people also throw away dead cattle – claims Radoslav Kosanović, a local, and adds – the cattle is being thrown away here because there are no pounds nearby.

Factory of meat and meat products “Mitros” from Sremska Mitrovica went bankrupt more than two years ago. “Mitros” also had a pound. Even though there is a need for the pound to work, because now the people throw away confiscates on the fields and canals, the pound is no longer operational and this is a huge problem.

Now, the inhabitants of the two villages, Laćarak and Martinci, are throwing away deceased animals on wild landfills or – Kosanović claims – there is an option where a hygienist comes and takes the carcases away, and for only 1000 dinars.

Nearest pounds are in Sombor and Zrenjanin, so it doesn’t pay off for the local residents to take a deceased pig, which has 100 kilos, and travel to one of these two town, because the mileage is great, the fuel is expensive and the pounds charge 14 dinars per kilo to take over a carcase –  Radoslav Kosanović says.

Inhabitants of this village are, mostly, unaware of the diseases that threaten them. They say that there is no money and that it is their only mean of getting rid of decease cattle.

A handful of villagers knows that these landfills are a huge problem. I can see my neighbors watching out for their children, telling them not to go to the landfills, that there are rats, that they are afraid of trichinosis – said Dragana M., a local.

Health Centre in Laćarak organizes meetings between villagers and doctors from the Health Centre. According to their records the local residents are well-informed about the potential health risks of wild landfills which are in their immediate area.

In the Health Centre they say that the village of Laćarak didn’t have any epidemics of jaundice in 2010. and 2011, nor any other infectious diseases whose cause can be narrowed down to wild landfills and they add that they don’t consider one or two cases of jaundice that alarming.

In order to suppress the appearance of jaundice and other diseases that can be obtained due to unsanitary conditions the Health Centre of Sremska Mitrovica organizes, in Laćarak , a Health Bazaar every other month, where it informs the inhabitants about the diseases that can appear because of unsanitary way of life and how they can be prevented.

Because wild landfills have their own “residents” (the Romani people, socially disadvantaged and marginalized populations) they are more subjected to falling ill of these diseases. They then become carriers and carry their infections and diseases to their settlements, neighbors, friends and families.

In the settlements around the landfills are predominantly inhabited by the Romani people, and they are usually not controlled for diseases, so there is a possibility that the number of cases during the year still is even higher, but the cases very simply not recorded.

Maybe the problem of throwing dead cattle on wild landfills will be solved soon, because the local government announced the sale of „Mitros,“ the factory which had the pound, which is expected to be sold by the end of January.

Secretary of Comity for agriculture of the Chamber of Commerce of Srem, Vladimir Vlaović – says he requested from the City that the pound be excluded from the sale of „Mitros“ and that it be made a public company that will work in the interest of the whole city.

For now, the landfills in Laćarak  are growing in size, but the waste is also being thrown away in the area of Sremska Mitrovica. The real solution is to increase the awareness of the people, and inform them that it is important for the quality of their life to throw away waste on the city landfill and to support the initiative of the Chamber of Commerce of Srem that the pound be put to work  in the interest of the people.