Azaz – Dayan Junpaz

The residents of Kaljabrin village, located in the northern countryside of Aleppo, suffer from the presence of a waste dump at the outskirts of the village. It brings both health and environmental repercussions, with local authorities unable to address the issue.

The dump does not only produce foul smells; it has become a real threat to the health of the villagers, causing the spread of chronic diseases and leaking fluids into the groundwater.

The waste dump has led to a proliferation of insects, prompting some residents to spray their homes with medicines and pesticides, incurring additional costs.

Ten years have passed since the waste dump was established, initially intended for the disposal of the village’s waste, which has a population of about 15,000 people.

However, over time, the dump expanded to include waste from neighboring villages and surrounding camps, increasing the level of pollution and severely impacting the environment and public health in the area.

Health crises and high costs

According to residents interviewed by Enab Baladi, the dump does not only contain household waste but also medical waste, resulting in the leakage of waste fluids and medical materials into the groundwater.

Abdulahi al-Issa, a resident of Kaljabrin, requires weekly nebulizer sessions and anti-inflammatory medication due to severe bronchitis, asthma, and allergies caused by the waste dump.

He told Enab Baladi that he spends up to 500 Turkish liras weekly on medication and faces difficulty in securing some regular medicines due to their unavailability at local medical points.

He added that physical fatigue is coupled with the financial inability to bear the cost of treatment, especially since he relies on a modest income from farming that does not cover the increasing costs, he said.

The daily wage for a worker does not exceed 100 Turkish liras (three US dollars) at best, with no job continuity.

Unsafe solutions

Yahya al-A’id, a resident of Kaljabrin, buys medicines and pesticides to combat insects in his home, costing up to 30 US dollars monthly (1000 Turkish liras).

Al-A’id knows that pesticides are dangerous, but he tries as much as possible to avoid their harm, spraying them inside and outside the house. However, he is always worried about the negative effects they might have on his children’s health.

He said that his children constantly suffer from allergies, and one of his children contracted Leishmaniasis, which required several doctor visits for appropriate treatment to avoid greater harm and repercussions.

Despite his regular use of these pesticides and medicines, al-A’id cannot fully get rid of the insects or the diseases resulting from the waste dump.

Al-A’id and several people interviewed by Enab Baladi appealed to the concerned authorities and local organizations to take urgent measures to remove the waste dump, which exacerbates the spread of diseases in the village.

They called for regular insecticide spraying campaigns to combat the spread of disease-carrying insects, preserving the residents’ health and environmental safety.

The waste dump negatively affects the lives of about 15,000 people in Kaljabrin village in Aleppo’s countryside – September 2024 (Enab Baladi/Dayan Junpaz)

A public health threat

Dr. Ahmad Ali from Kaljabrin told Enab Baladi that the most common diseases in the village are respiratory infections, especially during winter, and intestinal diseases due to contaminated water and food, such as diarrhea, dysentery, food poisoning, and hepatitis.

He explained that skin diseases are prevalent, including scabies and fungi, alongside parasitic diseases.

The doctor added that children are the most vulnerable to health risks caused by the insects and flies emitted from the waste dump. These include infectious diseases, especially digestive ones like dysentery, typhoid, cholera, as well as diarrhea and dehydration.

Additionally, skin diseases such as allergies and fungi can spread, along with diseases like malaria and Leishmaniasis, known as “year’s sore,” a parasitic disease transmitted by sandflies, which is more prevalent in areas with sanitation issues or near waste dumps.

The doctor warned about the leakage of hospital waste into the groundwater, posing a public health risk, leading to the leakage of toxic substances such as mercury, lead, dioxins, and industrial chemicals, increasing the chances of serious diseases among the village residents.

A problem beyond local council’s capacity

The village is under the control of the Syrian Interim Government (SIG) and is managed service-wise by the local council, but its capabilities fall short of solving the waste problem.

Abdul Hamid al-Ali, the head of the local council in Kafr Kaljabrin, told Enab Baladi that the dump, which covers an area of three dunams with a depth of ten meters, is unable to accommodate the increasing amounts of waste.

Al-Ali added that the council faces a shortage in solving the issue, as it requires huge amounts of money to build a high wall around the dump or to establish a waste recycling plant.

He mentioned that the council has repeatedly tried to communicate with responsible bodies and organizations to solve the problem but has not received any response or effective solutions yet.

Epidemic hotspots

Piles of waste and garbage are widespread in cities and rural areas across the Syrian geography, with assorted control areas, creating breeding grounds for pests and insects like mosquitoes and flies, as well as animals like rats, cats, and stray dogs, becoming sources and hotspots for epidemics and diseases with foul smells affecting both people and the environment.

In a previous statement to Enab Baladi, the Syria Civil Defence said that the spread of garbage dumps poses a threat to civilians’ health, especially affecting the respiratory system gradually and in the long term due to mainly burning the waste.

They considered that having garbage dumps near the camps is highly unhealthy. A similar situation is stagnant or running sewage ponds near camps, villages, and towns.

Sometimes, waste is burned as a means of disposal, leading to harmful smoke emissions. Additionally, dumps promote the spread of insects and rodents, especially in poorly equipped dumps.

Northwestern Syria is home to 5.1 million people, 4.2 million of whom require assistance, with 3.4 million experiencing food insecurity, including 3.4 million internally displaced people and 2 million living in camps, according to the United Nations. However, local statistics indicate a population of 5.5 to 6 million people.