COOP neighbors.Santiago de Roldós, south of Guayaquil, complain about black dust that arrives at their homes from the port of Fertisa

A black powder covers the floor of the Balcony of Marcela Vivar's house.Although it cleans it once a day, he says, a layer is re -forming on the surface of the tile, furniture, table and other belongings.The substance enters your home through the slits of the windows and doors, which remain closed and with wet rags in the edges.

Vivar is not the only one affected. En su barrio, en la cooperativa Santiago Roldós, sector de Fertisa (sur), los moradores se quejan del polvo que creen que llega con el viento desde la terminal portuaria de Fertisa, que colinda con esta zona.From the terrace or windows of the houses it is observed, behind a perimeter of containers, the top of a black substance, which according to this company is coal and pet coke, solid fuels that are used in the cement industry.

“We cannot hold clothes, because it is filled with dust, the windows have them closed, but still filters inside the houses.We have gone to claim (to the company), but they do not give us a solution, ”says Vivar, who has been living in the sector for more than 40 years.

These discomforts have them four years ago, according to the inhabitants."Before they discharged bananas and urea and there was no problem, but in recent years they receive a black material that arrives by boat and they carry it in trucks, but they do it outdoors and with the wind it is spread," says Lucio Lino, anotherInhabitant of the neighborhood, who like its neighbors ask that they carry out this activity “with all the securities and in closed spaces so that it does not affect us”.

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In addition to dust discomfort in houses and streets, they also believe that the health of children and adults has been affected by being exposed to that material."I have my girl in treatment for the tonsils, my other son suffers from rhinitis and my grandson comes out of some granites for dust allergy," says Vivar.

Jesenia, another resident, changed from home provisionally for the health of her children, 4 and 2 years old.He has been in his mother's house for five months, in the north of Guayaquil: “For the dust, my eldest son suffered from pharyngitis, he gave him cough and the tonsils were inflamed;And the child is allergic, he frequently got sick from cough and was complicated.The doctors told me that it is allergy to dust and that I had to get it out of there, and we did that.In these months away from home, my children are fine, just a couple of times has given them flu, but they have not complicated ”.

"We are tired, dust and noise is unbearable," says another resident, María Fajardo, whose three grandchildren also get sick continuously with pharyngitis.

Narcisa Salazar, who lives more than 40 years ago in the sector, believes that black dust would be the cause of the irritation of the view of one of her children and the itching that she and other relatives feel on the skin."We have to bathe with chamomile water to take away the itching," he says.In addition, his papaya, rough and hierbaluisa plants have withered, says, and believes that it has also been for "that dust".

No obstante, Leonardo Viteri, vicepresidente de asuntos corporativos de la empresa Fertisa, indica que la sustancia no es contaminante, según la Organización Marítima Internacional (OMI) y la Organización Mundial de Aduana (OMA).and that comply with operating and environmental permits."It is not a chemist, it is not a dangerous substance," he says and states that after each operation they perform particulate measurements on the perimeter walls of the port."Our 2021 historical data show values below 50% of the allowed concentrations," he adds.

En octubre del año pasado, el Municipio acudió para verificar las operaciones de estas sustancias ante una denuncia ciudadana y dio un plazo para que la empresa entregue un plan de acción: “Contemplaba, entre otros detalles, que todo lo relacionado a la manipulación y almacenamiento de los productos que llegan a dicho puerto se los realice dentro de los galpones que se encuentran en las instalaciones con la finalidad de mitigar”.

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On this, Fertisa's vice president clarifies that this commitment to the Cabildo was “enabling two wineries that were in maintenance.That is being fulfilled, "and pointed out:" At no time was it condition.

On that occasion, the inhabitants and the company agreed to some commitments, such as that the company would give medical attention for the children of the community.This, according to the inhabitants, has not been fulfilled.However, Viteri states that this service has not been used by the community."They are announced in La Garita and are attended as availability of the Dr. of the Dispensary," he says.

Other commitments were: Manage the placement of horizontal and vertical signage on the access road to the terminal, campaign with drivers so that they do not make indiscriminate use of the horn and do not circulate at excess of speed, improve their internal manipulation processesof solid bulk, which according to the company have fulfilled.

Ante esta nueva queja de los moradores, la dirección de Ambiente del Municipio ofreció que el lunes 7 de junio realizaría una nueva inspección en la empresa para levantar un informe y ponerlo en conocimiento del Ministerio de Ambiente.

The environmental license was granted by the Cabildo in 2013 and until last year, when for its port activity it became competence of the Ministry.

En este año han llegado cinco barcos con esos materiales, que por la característica de ambos materiales, apunta Viteri, son productos que comúnmente se almacena al aire libre, en este y otros países.

“Viene (la sustancia) con cierta humedad, se despacha en el vehículo que lo transporta al importador y una parte se queda (almacenada) en el puerto, de tiempo en tiempo de la operación se le rocía agua para evitar el particulado”, asegura el representante de la empresa Fertisa, constituida en 1964 y que se dedicaba a la importación, procesamiento y comercialización de fertilizantes, como actividades principales hasta mediados del 2020, cuando cambió su actividad principal a la prestación de servicios portuarios. Por ese último ejercicio, la firma reportó $ 15,4 millones de ingresos el año pasado; las ventas totales fueron por $ 23,3 millones.

The company complies, says Viteri, with several actions to mitigate the particulate, such as: cover the material with bulk canvases to avoid pollution to the environment;Spray with water to reduce the particulate, clean the tires, buckets and chassis of the dump trucks that leave the port installation, clean internal and external streets and carry out control measurements.

“If they clean the access street, but with a hose and it is made mud.That must do so with a pressure water machine, ”suggests another resident, which lives five blocks from the terminal.Until his home, he says, that black dust arrives.

Other neighbors, such as Marcela Vivar, Roberto Castillo and Azucena Vélez, also claim that in the last decade the walls have been cracked due to the continuous passage of heavy vehicles.An affected made the complaint with the Ombudsman's Office, because he had to spend $ 4.000 to raise a part of the slab that collapsed, but did not have a favorable response.

"The Ombudsman ruled and said that there was no way to link one with the other, and it did denote that the constructions were irregular," Fertisa's representative responds to this particular.(YO)

No sinks and deteriorated road

In a section of the Santiago Roldós cooperative, in about three blocks, they do not have rainwater sinks, so the water is stagnant when it rains or when the neighbors clean the portals of their houses.This has also caused, in this winter, that dengue cases have been presented in this sector.

"When they made the sanitary and storm sewer in this area it seems that they forgot to make the sinks in these blocks," says Lucio Lino, dweller.

ILFN FLOWCHSHEIM, SOSTRA DE INTRAGUA, indicated that he will carry out an inspection in the sector during this week in order to design a technical solution plan and meet the needs of residents.

The inhabitants also ask the council to improve the road, which is deteriorated by the lack of maintenance in recent years, and the cleaning of the channel, which also borders the port company.(YO)