Waste had piled up in the middle of Roma settlement in Markusovce, covering the stream of a local creek for around 30 years. The waste dump was the result of the lack of access of the local Roma community to waste removal services and the lack of political will from the side of the municipal office to find solutions (field visit in summer 2019). Environmental injustice occurred together with the general segregation of the Roma families from the non-Roma population, such as the fact that Roma students were segregated in schools from the other students. [5] While the residents of non-Roma neighborhoods were provided with waste collection services - even where people did not pay the fees due to the municipality - the Roma settlement was exposed to environmental discrimination over decades. Most of the Roma families ceased to pay the fee for municipal waste removal as the families' financial resources were limited and the service was not provided anyways. The municipal office did not offer any solution except for three large-capacity waste containers that were removed occasionally, as locals testified during a recent field visit. The large, illegal dump in the middle of a settlement has put the local residents at different environmental health risks. Infectious diseases spread including hepatitis. The infections did not only affect the local Roma community, but also the majority population; however, the Roma families were more directly exposed to the waste dump in the middle of their settlement. In Markusovce, a starting epidemic of hepatitis was detected several times and only through the reaction of the local health care assistants a wider epidemic was prevented, as residents reported during a field visit. The dump was a host to mice, rats and insects such as cockroaches that could further transmit diseases. Locals were afraid that the water wells in the settlement could have been polluted; however, no data on water quality is available. After the municipal elections in 2014, when a local Roma was elected mayor, members of a the local NGO "Roma Markusovce" started to lobby the municipal government in order to clean up the waste. The municipal office in 2015 applied for a grant from the government's Environmental Fund to be able to clean up the waste. The application was successful and the office received a grant of 95,000 Euro. [1]. Since then, 3.000 tons of waste have been removed and the municipality has started to collect waste from the Roma settlement as well as to offer a payment scheme for the waste removal fees. (See less) |
Over decades, a waste dump piles up in the middle of the Roma settlement in the village of Markusovce. The neighborhood is not served by any waste collection service. Only when local activists speak up, the illegal dump gets removed.
Waste had piled up in the middle of Roma settlement in Markusovce, covering the stream of a local creek for around 30 years. The waste dump was the result of the lack of access of the local Roma community to waste removal services and the lack of political will from the side of the municipal office to find solutions (field visit in summer 2019). |
| Name of conflict: | Illegal waste dump at a Roma community in Markusovce, Slovakia |
| Country: | Slovak Republic |
| State or province: | Kosice county |
| Location of conflict: | Markusovce |
| Accuracy of location | HIGH (Local level) |
| Type of conflict. 1st level: | Waste Management |
| Type of conflict. 2nd level: | Landfills, toxic waste treatment, uncontrolled dump sites |
| Specific commodities: | Domestic municipal waste |
| Project details | After a member of the Roma community was elected mayor of the municipality, a local NGO started to lobby for a clean-up, and the municipality won a grant from the Environment Ministry to fund the waste removal. During winter 2015/2016, a private company removed more than 3.000 tons of waste to an official dump site. The municipal office then provided five large-capacity containers and started regular waste removal using the services of a local waste removal company. |
| Level of Investment for the conflictive project | 115,000 |
| Type of population | Rural |
| Affected Population: | 3,000 |
| Start of the conflict: | 07/01/2016 |
| Relevant government actors: | Municipal government of Markusovce Ministry of Environment |
| International and Finance Institutions | Environmental Fund (Ministry of Environment) |
| Environmental justice organizations (and other supporters) and their websites, if available: | Roma Markusovce (local NGO) |
| Intensity | LOW (some local organising) |
| Reaction stage | Mobilization for reparations once impacts have been felt |
| Groups mobilizing: | Neighbours/citizens/communities Ethnically/racially discriminated groups |
| Forms of mobilization: | Development of alternative proposals Official complaint letters and petitions Public campaigns |
| Environmental Impacts | Visible: Surface water pollution / Decreasing water (physico-chemical, biological) quality, Loss of landscape/aesthetic degradation, Waste overflow, Soil contamination Potential: Groundwater pollution or depletion |
| Health Impacts | Visible: Infectious diseases, Other environmental related diseases |
| Socio-economical Impacts | Visible: Loss of landscape/sense of place, Other socio-economic impacts Potential: Violations of human rights, Displacement |
| Project Status | Stopped |
| Conflict outcome / response: | Environmental improvements, rehabilitation/restoration of area Institutional changes Negotiated alternative solution |
| Proposal and development of alternatives: | The local Roma-led NGO has asked for the clean up and for the provision of waste collection services. After the municipal elections and after the municipality won a grant for the clean up, the waste was removed and regular waste collection was introduced. Jointly, the municipal office together with local NGO "Roma Markusovce" started to work towards decreasing the debts that local Roma families had accumulated when not paying the waste removal fees. The families now have the possibility to follow a payment schedule allowing them to clear the debt. They receive a family-sized dust bin and have their waste removed directly from their home. At the moment of research (summer 2019), an estimated 40 families (out of an estimated 200) have their waste removed using regular dust bins. The municipal office also prepares waste separation service in the settlement (while the non-Roma part of the village already had access to waste separation). This step is meant to decrease the amount of waste put in the containers and is believed to decrease the costs of waste removal as the separated waste is removed free of charge.. It is also expected that a recently approved law on a deposit for plastic bottles, which will enter into force in 2022, will help to decrease the amount of waste in Roma communities, including Markusovce. |
| Do you consider this an environmental justice success? Was environmental justice served?: | Yes |
| Briefly explain: | 3.000 tons of illegal waste have been removed. The municipal office installed more large scale waste containers that are removed regularly. More families have cleared their debts and have their waste removed using domestic bins. |
| Juridical relevant texts related to the conflict (laws, legislations, EIAs, etc) |
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| Related media links to videos, campaigns, social network |
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| Other comments: | The information in this cases in based on research conducted during a field trip in summer 2019 by the author of this case, interviews with residents and activists. |
| Last update | 15/08/2019 |
| Conflict ID: | 4357 |