Revista de Ciencias Humanas y Sociales. FEC-LUZ
Therefore, the expansion of the "Doña Juana Landfill" project is a
relevant framework to contrast and compare the benefits of the MICI
with the ongoing outcomes of the above-mentioned class action filed in
1999 (CARREÑO & QUIROGA, 2013; QUINTERO, 2016: LÓPEZ,
MACA & GORDILLO, 2017; Observatorio Ambiental de Bogotá, 2017;
MARÍN & ESTRADA, 2019; MOLANO, 2019).
In 2012, Colombia´s State Council ruled the class action in favor
of the communities surrounding the Dona Juana landfill and ordered a
monetary reparation to compensate the damages caused by the collapse
of the landfill and the resulting public health emergency in the sector.
However, these compensation measures were not effective to
comprehensively repair the damage caused to the community in terms of
affectations to rights such as family privacy, recreation, a healthy
environment, and public health.
… the third section of the Council of State, in an order
dated November 1, 2012, declared the Capital District
responsible for the environmental catastrophe caused by
the overflow and collapse of the Doña Juana landfill and
ordered it to pay COP $227,44 milliards in compensation
for moral damage and affectation of the constitutional
rights to family intimacy and to recreation and the use of
free time. Likewise, the sentence ordered the following
measures to ensure non-repetition:
1. Adopt a technical regulation that guarantees safe
management of sanitary landfills, applying the advances
that science currently offers.
2. Send a copy of the conviction to the National Agency
for Legal Defense of the State so that, within the
framework of its powers and whenever it deems it
necessary, it disseminates its content.” (LÓPEZ et al.,
2015)
At present, the Council of State´s ruling on the class action filed
by the community gave them expectations of being repaired with the
disbursement of resources, though the process has dragged on for years.
However, the Ombudsman's Office has spoken out by saying that what is
argued in the ruling will be paid on time and indicated that by February
2018, compensation has been paid to 1,294 people out of the total 1,472
beneficiaries recognized in the ruling.