Living in Peru : your everyday companion

Living in Peru
Jobana Soto

The Pajchiri Bay, part of the world famous Lake Titicaca, is in horrible condition according to locals who live by the bay. Among the many towns living off Lake Titicaca, Pajchiri Bay is the most polluted with contaminated water, fish and plants.

Both Peruvian and Bolivian government officials want to change the face of Lake Titicaca, the highest navigable lake in the world, and the people the lake serves for survival.

“I was born here, there were many fishes. I learned to live my life with fish but now there are no fishes, many have died,” said Pablo Mamani, who lives off the Pajchiri Bay.

Mamani, 48, is one of the 2,000 people living in the area of Cohana Bay, where the quality of water has deteriorated due to pollution and littering. But officials in both Peru and Bolivia have agreed to work together to clean up the contamination of the bay after a recent investigation of the waters.

In the waters, levels of arsenic materials such as zinc were found according to the Autoridad Binacional of Perú and Bolivia Autónoma (ALT). Though president of ALT, Julián Barra, acknowledged that contamination levels in Lake Titicaca are spread throughout, he believes Cohana Bay should be the starting point for Peru and Bolivia to focus cleaning.

Bolivia contributed US$80,000 to help ALT in its work. Currently, the ALT is being financed on US$28,000 from the Peruvian government.

When water levels in Lake Titicaca are high, ALT will begin maintaining and cleaning the Cohana Bay.