As you know, most large cities around the world produce garbage-tons of it everyday. Health rules dictate that it be removed and disposed of remotely, at a safe distance from the population, or bad things happen. The list of bad things is too long to mention; but it is safe to say, the farther away, the better.
Moskova is a large city, perched in a western corner of the country loosely called "The Federation." This country puts much of its resources into Moskova, it is said to glitter(perhaps from ice crystals). Its large population, like its peers, produces tons of refuse everyday. It must be removed, and it is, by organized collectors, who, despite freezing weather, heavy snow and ice, lengthy nights and short days, go about their business with credible efficiency. (no piles of debris in the city).
Now Moskova has been around for centuries, and debris has been removed with various degrees of certainty, depending on methods available at the time. These days, experts have combined to make the process very efficient: a single man/woman operates a truck that moves at a steady pace as its robot arms shift loads from street containers directly to the motorized collectors. Very nice, if not necessarily quiet. From the street to the landfill can take some time depending on the location of the site. And there in, lies the modern problem: where do we put the landfill?
How about Siberia? Brilliant. Siberia is a big place. Not too long ago, Tzars used it to relocate dissidents and undesirables. Why not garbage? Aren't they about the same? Let's have a look. So, the Kremlinistas sent out their lackies to find just the right site: not too close, yet not too far-just right.
What did they find?
They found a small town in the forest with a population of about 5 thousand hearty souls. The town is called URDOMA, which translated means "near a river or stream". It snows a lot here, but the locals like it. It used to be the site of a gulag prison, founded by the prisoners who were dumped here. It is in the state of Arkhangelsk, not too far from Finland, Russya's nervous neighbor to the west. Locals have formed a group to oppose the Kremlin's plans. This group, called CLEAN URDOMA, is spearheading an effort to ban trash dumping in their town. Sergei Yakimov, the lawyer for the group, says the Kremlin has priorities wrong: instead of financing recycling efforts, the Kremlin spends on appearances to fool the rest of Europe and the world into thinking that Russya is a modern, well run nation. It is not. Not too long ago "Putin" became the same word for "fat/prosperous". Times have changed. The current times are not fat nor prosperous for most of the country. The governor of Arkangelsk, Igor Orlov, says the project will bring 500 needed jobs. In a slick Kremlin display, it was noted that the garbage will be baled in plastic and placed in the ground. The site will handle 500,000 tons. Aleksei Navalny has joined the fight. He wants better wages for all levels, not just remote dump sites. Many locals already have good jobs with Gazprom, the large oil producer in Russya. "We don't need 500 more jobs hauling garbage", say locals. Enough of the Kremlin's plans. Mr. Navalny and others have linked the garbage plan contracts to high level officials who stand to get rich. This is considered good business by Putin.
One local, a businessman, Nikolai Viktorov, says, "after we get rid of the garbage in Shiyes(Urdoma), we'll get rid of the garbage in Moskova."
Let's watch the action that will soon take place in Siberia.
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