Authors: Allegra Mendelson and Rachel Moon
A stench creeps through the air, carried by a gust of wind from the mountains of garbage piled along the streets of Yangon’s northwestern Shwepyithar Township. Some mounds are over three metres high – as tall as the houses lining the same concrete roads. “The smell from the dump site is strong. At night, when the doors are closed, the air is sealed out, but if the wind comes in from the east, it’s really bad,” said U Zeya Kyaw Moe*, a resident of Shwepyithar’s 11th ward. “Even adults sometimes find it hard to breathe and it’s very dangerous for young children.”