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The unmeasurable growth of large cities and the uncontrolable proliferation of domestic, commercial and industrial waste has transformed the rubbish of our consumer society into a mega-problem, but... highly profitable. The governments, unable to control this phenomenon, have assigned the responsibility of a search for solutions to the private sector. This has resulted in an ecological impunity that is enjoyed by the economic mega-conglomerates responsible for assuming the million dollar contracts for the elimination of waste from large urban centres and from national industry.

Hidronor, the only industrial waste receiving plant in Chile, located in the Municipality of Pudahuel (the municipality with the highest environmental pollution index of the metropolitan area) receives, for treatment, 30% of the toxic waste generated in the country. The remaining 70% is not accounted for, and is likely thrown out with the regular trash or deposited in clandestine sites, thrown into the rivers and into the sea. This criminal act, that has just recently begun to show its fatal consequences in the population, is as of yet not the responsibility of anyone.

KDM, a commercial and domestic source landfill site located in the region of Til -Til, receives the waste from 16 municipalities of the Greater Santiago area. The Municipality of Pudahuel pays $400,000,000 pesos (over 600 thousand US dollars) annually for the right to deposit their garbage there.

In December of the year 2000, officials of the NGO House for Peace (Casa de la Paz), communicated to the community of Pudahuel that a landfill site was to be installed in the Noviciado Valley, within their boundaries. The project was being proposed by a company called CIL Ambiente, jointly owned by Constructora Internacional, a Chilean company, and by Sistema Ambiente, the representative in Chile of a group of Italian companies...

What economic groups are actually behind this project? ... why was this community chosen, and specifically, a location only 8 kilometres from the international airport of Pudahuel? ... and what will become of a community affected by the installation of such a large project in the middle of a valley which is a declared ecological preservation area? ... It is obvious that an organised community would never permit the imposed installation of a landfill site within its territory. How is it possible that a government institution could approve such an installation, regardless of the consequences for the environment and for the residents? How is it possible to accept that a private company puts its profit above the health of a community, and of the survival of the planet?

Ultraje de un Noviciado is a documentary about the dignity of a people. It is a small step toward discovering and understanding the relationship between Power and Garbage in the world of today. Ultraje de un Noviciado is a wrathful cry of a community, amplified by the joint production of Cinematografías Australes and Gryphon Productions… we hope that the saga helps us to answer some of the so many unanswered questions.

This video was produced by Cinematografías Australes, in cooperation with GRYPHON MEDIA PRODUCTIONS (known in Chile as GRYPHON productions).

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