Transcripts For LINKTV Focus 20240703

A romanian landfill site, full of unsorted waste financed with money from the european union. This was supposed to be a modern, environmentally friendly waste dump to replace the older, illegal landfill site near the city of clujnapoca, that had been an eyesore for decades. The new landfill opened after much delay. But not much seems to have improved. Unsorted garbage is still dumped here, nothing is recycled a harmful practice, thats illegal in the eu. We want to find out what went wrong here. In a residential area, we look at the start of the waste chain. The First Impression is positive there are different bins for different waste. You guys recycle your waste . Sometimes. Because sometimes it doesnt make sense because the same car is taking the garbage. Its not actually recycling. Its one car to pick everything. And then it happens before our very eyes. The sign on the truck reads today we collect paper. But they also take Everything Else from all the bins. Is this an isolated case . Or is it systemic . We meet Sandor Korosfoy, who works in the waste industry. Hes also an activist and keeps track of what clujs waste collectors are doing. So, whats happening now . Again its like different types of waste right . Yes, yes. I think they are mixing all the bins, yes. Unfortunately. Romania recycles just 14 percent of its municipal waste, compared to the eu average of 49 percent. Sandor korosfoy says this partly stems from romanias fee system. Right now recyclables are more expensive to collect than mixed waste. So theres no incentive to collect them separately. With Sandor Korosfoy and three other environmental activists, i watch drone footage of the new waste plant. The activists are concerned that the site is filling up faster than it should with unsorted waste. Which is illegal in the eu. This is not a momentary mistake. This is structural. As you can see from the area that is covered with nontreated, nonsorted garbage. Most of the material they dont treat, dont sort, just dump it there. Its so obvious. From 2014 to 2020, the eu spent 318 Million Euros subsidizing Waste Management in romania, 40 million in cluj alone. We want to speak with the people responsible for Waste Collection here but neither the Waste Company nor the Romanian Ministry of European Investments reply to our inquiry. The local Waste Management association does, however, tell us in writing that theyll impose penalties if there are deficiencies. The District Council here is responsible for implementing the eu project. We met with the spokesperson who says cluj doesnt have a waste problem. We have closed all public, noncompliant landfills, and we have put both the new landfill and the integrated Waste Management center into operation. Thats a definite success. We observed that trash is still not being recycled and not collected separately in cluj and this is one of the main goals of european Waste Management standards. Are you as cluj county not concerned about this . There may be some isolated problems. But i tell you as a citizen that it is definitely not a systematic problem. No one appears willing to acknowledge the waste problem here. So we head to brussels, to ask what the Eu Commission which financed much of romanias Waste Disposal system is doing about this. The commission does not manage projects. We do not follow each separate project. We have, under cohesion policy, in the previous period, 1. 5 million projects or more than 1. 5 million projects funded by cohesion policy. And these are all managed by the member states. Back in romania, no one seems to feel responsible much to the dismay of istvan szakats. He hides a surveillance camera near the landfill to track what is dumped. He plans to file a complaint with the european antifraud office, or olaf. But hes isnt very optimistic. As long as europe is happy with pdfs and they are and they have been and they will be romania will have no problem with producing more nicelooking pdfs. We couldnt find out who is to blame for chaos in cluj. But maybe thats the root of the problem in the tangle of european projects, Everyone Wants a piece of the pie. But it seems no one wants to take full responsibility for the waste, or for where the money is going. The countdown is on in less than a year, paris will host the summer olympics. Swimming elite from all over the world will be competing for gold. And several of their races will take place in the seine. But the river that weaves through the french capital is not entirely safe its Water Quality has historically been poor. A century ago a strict ban on swimming in the seine was implemented. But the city wants to get the problem under control by 2024 and they are diving into work to meet the deadline. Its still quiet on the seine this morning. The paris river police, which keeps an eye on the river 247, is out on patrol. Commander Sophie Malherbe heads the brigade. For her, the seine is like a town, with residents, traffic, and also rules. Swimming is strictly forbidden. Parisians arent allowed there are too many dangers and the risk of drowning. Its been banned for 100 years, but thanks to the Olympic Games, there are ambitious plans to allow swimming in the river again. The largest sports park ever designed in a city. It included a 160meter long floating athletics track and amazing facilities set up across the citys famous landmarks, including the seine river. Lionel is looking forward to it. He lives on the seine, in a cozily furnished houseboat. Hes planning to watch the Opening Ceremony of the Olympic Games next year from his deck. Live and up close, from his front row seat. Thats how its going to be. My friends will be here, too, and well enjoy it together. Well be right up close, and im definitely planning to make the most of the party. He points to where hundreds of thousands of people will be watching from the riverbank. And some of the water sport events will be taking place close by. Dan angelescu is a physicist whos been working for the city of paris and testing the Water Quality of the seine for five years now looking for bacterial contamination. The big question is whether the river will be clean enough for the games, and whether the athletes will be allowed in the water. I think it will be doable. With regular and proper measures to ensure Water Quality. Were not going to put anybody in danger, because our sampling verifies the Water Quality. To get to the bottom of this, we go deep into the bowels of paris under the river, into the sewers. There are over 1,000 kilometers of sewers in the french capital, which collect rainwater and wastewater. When theres heavy rainfall, the sewers which date back to napoleon the first overflow. For years and years, for decades, whenever there was a storm, the water was diverted directly into the river. Without being treated at all no wonder people arent allowed to swim in the seine thats set to change thanks to a new stateoftheart Water Treatment system currently being built in the city center. But there is still a lot of work to be done. In this suburb, just 200 meters past the paris city limits, there are still many homes that arent connected to the capitals sewage system. Work here has been going on for weeks to install new pipes for about 35,000 households. Jeanphilippe shows us his new system. Now, all the pipes are connected, for the kitchen, the toilets, the bathroom. And he didnt have to pay a thing because the municipality covered the costs for the Olympic Games. That has something to do with it, sure. The area wants to show it has a functioning wastewater system. Its high season on the seine. And everywhere preparations for the olympics are underway. Captain de vallois and his river boat have been selected for a big mission. His boat will be among the 116 vessels to sail on the seine at the Opening Ceremony. He is excited. Of course, im pretty proud. Its a big event. A massive event for paris and an ambitious overhaul for the river seine all too often, death is a taboo subject that many people avoid talking about. Regina seriak is terminally ill and only has a few months left to live. But regina doesnt feel she can speak about it freely and openly with her family. Instead she leans on this woman martina bukatz. She is a trained end of life companion. And she specializes in minimizing the fear surrounding death. One moment ok. Ive to wear this for at least six hours a night. The oxygen device gets on regina ciriacks nerves. But shes terminally ill with endstage copd an incurable, lung disease. She has only 20 percent lung capacity and its decreasing. Without the supplementary oxygen, she can hardly do anything. Well, for me its always stressful because im claustrophobic. And when you have something constantly up against your face, its unpleasant. Regina wants to prepare for her own death which is why martina bukatz drops by once a week. Shes a volunteer for the malteser international. As an end of life companion also called a death doula shes already accompanied more than a dozen people. The conversations ease reginas fear of dying. Shes experienced it close up and talks about it, which gives me courage. The topic itself isnt difficult; whats difficult is what people make of it. We can be very relaxed about it. We talk about everything; thats not possible with everyone, but with regina it works wonderfully. The two of them speak quite openly about the funeral too. Id like to be scattered in the mountains, that would be important for me. And a big party, but not a death party, a life party. All my friends should celebrate life and not death. Thats what id want. Martina did a ninemonth Training Course with the maltesers as an end of life companion. There, she learned to keep a professional distance. But with regina, thats not easy. Shes such a warmhearted person fully aware of her situation, but also so positive. She gives me energy, though ive no idea where she gets it from. But its just lovely. Back at reginas a few weeks later. She lives with her husband in an attic flat without a balcony in berlin. Its a huge effort to even get out the door. Her husband helps her. It takes forever for them to make it down the three floors. Regina can only walk short distances. But the trip to the bench in front of the house is a special occassion. Shes been married to her husband for 40 years and can rely on him and their two children. But she cant talk about her death with them as openly and easily as with martina. Martina is already waiting in the kitchen. Today, the question is whether regina will soon be going to a hospice. You know, i did say if im still able to chose one, if im still together enough to make that choice myself, wonderful. Others go on sunday outings but i say, lets go check out a hospice. Thats right two months later, at the beginning of december, the outing takes place. Reginas husband wolfgang is supportive and accompanies her to the appointment, though hed prefer her to stay at home. But regina has a mind of her own, and its all been talked through with martina. After several discussions, including with my malteser end of life companion, i decided it would be better if my family werent as directly involved. I dont think it would be so good for them to see their mother being carried out feetfirst. Three months later, regina is still at home, but shes moved into the more central living room. Heres my new nursing bed ive relocated. Everythings a bit brighter, a bit friendlier, i can also have visitors here. Everythings wonderful. And her husbands just a push of a button away this is my james bell. Her husband now works from home so that he can tend to her. Theyve put off the move to the hospice for now. Ive seen that she can still manage quite well at home if you help her. And id rather have her here than being alone all day and only going to visit her. I can also accept that im no longer treated as the husband, but as james. The servant. You get pocketmoney too about two weeks after this visit, regina dies suddenly. As gently as she had wished for. Martina bukatz wears a party outfit to reginas farewell celebration, just as regina had wished. And the party too is also like regina imagined it. Loud, bustling, colorful. Thats how we agreed it should be, and thats exactly how its turned out. And at easter, the family fulfils reginas last wish. They scatter her ashes in the swiss mountains. A single post on social media has the power to change lives. It happened to sascha shunyak who was born with down syndrome. An online post sparked a wave of solidarity and breathed new life into the cafe where he works. Its in the bosnian town of tuzla. The cafe is unique it employs people with disabilities. And they are devoted to their jobs. So when word spread it was facing closure, the community rallied. His job means everything to sasa sunjak. He works almost every day at the klub zmajevo srce, or dragons heart club cafe. And sasa has the heart of a fighter he doesnt give up, even when the going gets tough. It makes me so happy, im full of joy i love working here and ill always love it i could work here 24 hours without a break. His colleague boris kusumovi cant speak, but would definitely second that. He even wanted to put a bed in the cafe so he could spend the night there. The two of them are fortunate. In bosnia there are next to no no jobs for people with down syndrome, even though many have a Vocational School diploma, for instance in gastronomy. The cafe project is the only one of its kind in bosnia. You can see on their faces, and the faces of their families, that the cafes become like a second home for them. Their parents say that theyve never been happier. The project was actually on the brink of failure. People with disabilities still struggle for inclusion in bosnia. In the first few months, hardly any guests came. The cafe next door was full to the brim, but not so the dragons heart. Apart from edima efendidoini. The writer has known sasa since childhood. She visits him in the cafe almost every day. One saturday a few weeks ago, she was the only guest, and omer took a photo of her. I didnt know omer took my picture. We were sitting there, chatting, and he said he was going to post that the club was closing at the end of the month. I said, oh come on, it doesnt have to come to that and he said, we cant survive this financially after our post, everything changed first the Regional Media reported on it, then it went nationwide. Suddenly we were full from morning till night the first two, three weeks you couldnt get a table here. It was a miracle, they say. Since then, the cafes been doing great. The guests pile on the praise. Im telling you, its one of the best cafes neat, tidy, almost pedantically clean and the service is topclass i was quite surprised at first. I didnt expect it, but it makes no difference i think they even serve me and the others with a bit more respect and friendliness than youd see elsewhere. Similar projects are set to open in other locations. The dragons heart cafe is just a beginning but a promising one. Its a highlight for hikers in the swiss alps one of the worlds longest pedestrian suspension bridges. With a steep, upward path its not for the faint of heart. But those who cross the Charles Kuonen bridge are rewarded with an exhilarating view of the alps. The view below the bridge is also breathtaking so much so, that some hikers are forced to turn back. This is the longest pedestrian suspension bridge in the alps and one of the longest in the world. But you can only reach it by foot. Getting there involves a steep climb from the Swiss Village of randa, through pristine, untouched nature. It takes two hours to get to the bridge, but youre rewarded with an amazing, panoramic view. The nearly 500meterlong bridge spans part of the matter valley. It doesnt cost anything to cross but you do have to have a head for heights. The slight swaying motion can take a little getting used to. It takes about 10 minutes to cross. At its highest point, the bridge is 85 meters above the boulderstrewn ravine. We loved it, absolutely fantastic, yeah. Worth the climb up. And the view was spectacular, absolutely gorgeous. My names laurence and its very fun. And if you look down its usually a 400meter drop. Because of the skywalks seethrough structure you cant help but look down. An adrenaline rush for some. But too much for others. Some even turn around. Its the first time that ive been here. But because so many people were using it at once, i got scared. But theres no real reason to be afraid. Despite its delicate appearance, the 65 centimeter wide suspension bridge is very sturdy. Just a few years ago, hikers would walk through the ravine below. But the trail was becoming more and more dangerous. This part over here was always a bit of a problem because theres a rock glacier there, as well as permafrost and often there was rockfall. So we had to figure out how to make this section safe. Thanks to the suspension bridge its now much easier to hike the europa trail from grachen to zermatt and enjoy spectacular views of switzerlands highest peaks. No chance of getting lost in the woods on that trail. Thats all from us this week at focus on europe. Thanks for watching. Bye for now. 09 14 23 09 14 23 [captioning made possible by democracy now ] amy from new york, this is democracy now even though conspiracy theorists always talk about the elites, the elites they are after you, the people who conspiracy theories benefit most are the elites. Because a deflect attention away from the system that has made them billionaires and it says