Indigenous space
Garbage collectors in Giza are negotiating with the governorate for a role alongside the foreign companies who are to take over waste management in the area this spring. Dena Rashed investigates
Traditional garbage collectors -- the zabaleen -- and officials met this week in a bid by the Giza Governorate to strike a compromise with those who have long kept the area clean before foreign companies assume responsibility for the management of waste disposal.
The 4 February meeting came a day after the zabaleen of Giza demonstrated against the take over of solid waste management in the governorate by foreign companies. Three zabaleen activists were arrested shortly before the demonstration while they were preparing for a gathering to discuss their future role in light of the presence of the companies. They were released the following day.
The zabaleen of Giza and Cairo share similar concerns about their role in view of the contracting of waste management to the companies. Europa enser, a Spanish company, was to kick off foreign involvement in the management of waste in the greater Cairo area, on 1 February in western Cairo. That date, however, was pushed back owing to problems the company is facing with respect to payment of customs duties.
As that date loomed, the zabaleen in Cairo Governorate were largely unaware of the fact that once the company began its work, they would not be allowed to conduct door-to-door garbage collection. Europa enser has also contracted to clean the streets and dispose collected garbage -- about 3,000 tons daily, including medical waste.
For the zabaleen of Giza, however, the fact that the ax was finally falling was driven home last week when Giza's Cleanliness and Beautification Authority (GCBA) stopped issuing them new licences. This measure comes ahead of the 1 March and 1 April start dates for the management of the governorate's waste disposal by companies headquartered in Spain and Italy. FCC, the Spanish company, has named its local operations Giza for Environmental Services, while the Italian Jacroussi is to be called International Company for Environmental Services.
The zabaleen's view about these developments? "We did not face any problems with door-to-door garbage collection; it's the GCBA that had problems cleaning up the streets," said Mohamed Ezzat Saleh, a major garbage collection boss in Giza. Saleh said that most of the zabaleen are not against the idea of foreign companies working in the sector, but that they refuse to be managed by them.
With the two foreign companies scheduled to take over refuse management in only a matter of weeks, the governor of Giza, Mohamed Abul-Leil, and officials from the GCBA met with the representatives of the zabaleen.
"We told the officials during the meeting that we need to go on with our jobs, and that we will not accept a change to the areas where we collect garbage on a daily basis," Saleh, who was one of the representatives of the zabaleen at the meeting, told Al-Ahram Weekly. According to a GCBA source, the zabaleen were offered the rights to collect garbage in four districts in Giza that are not currently cleaned by either the GCBA or the zabaleen.
Saleh said they did not accept the offer. "We will not exchange our present garbage collection areas with the companies' areas. The governor assured us we will not lose our jobs, and that we will resolve the matter before the new companies start work."
For many of the zabaleen, the changes were being made too soon, especially with the GCBA blocking the issuing of their licences. However, Ahmed Nabil, the spokesperson for the Italian company told the Weekly, "it's not too late to involve the zabaleen in the process; we know it is not just an environmental problem, but a social one too." He added that the management of the company was surprised the demonstrations took place. "I don't know what all the fuss is about; we are ready to accept the experienced labour in our business, but we are against the old fashioned non-environmental technique of garbage collection."
In particular, Nabil objected to sorting the garbage in populated areas. "We have prepared a 110-feddan area for sanitary waste disposal and upgraded the governorate factories that we will use. We will do our job in an environmental way," he added.
According to the contracts for waste management in Giza, the two companies are obliged to deal with the zabaleen. Those for Cairo, in contrast, contain no such stipulations. The contracts for Giza also state that the companies own the garbage they collect. The financial implications of this may be dire for the zabaleen who sort the garbage each day, selecting out recyclable materials that they then sell. Garbage, consequently, is one of their major sources of income.
Raising pigs is another of the zabaleen's income-generating activities that depends on waste collection, as they obtain food for the animals from the garbage.
The meeting did not fully resolve the matter of just where the zabaleen should sort the garbage they collect. However, the governorate agreed that if the zabaleen's usage of the dumps proves problematic, the governorate would be willing to offer them 100 feddans outside the city for their use.
A source at the GCBA, who preferred to remain anonymous, said, "the governorate is willing to move the zabaleen area out of town where they could continue with the pig farms since it is a vital activity that they certainly will not give up."
He added that Giza has managed to avoid the shortcomings of the contracts signed in Cairo and in Alexandria with the foreign companies, "We knew that this issue could pose a problem for us, so we stipulated that the companies must deal with the zabaleen, but in Cairo things will be much difficult since it is a much bigger city and a bigger community of zabaleen."
Next Saturday, the zabaleen of Giza are expected to submit the names of persons working in the sector to the GCBA in order to reach a deal with the foreign companies to continue door-to-door garbage collection. The list, though, may prove another point of contention between the zabaleen and the GCBA. "The list should include all the personnel who collect and sort garbage -- that includes the women and the youngsters," Saleh, who represents the zabaleen, said. The source from the GCBA, had a different understanding: "The list should only include the zabaleen who work in garbage collection -- not those who sort the garbage."
