Dumped by the people
Dena Rashed sounds out the differing gripes about the new private waste management projects that haven't quite taken Cairo and Giza by storm yet
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Garbage dump sites in narrow Bab Al-Sha'riya alleys await to be visited by Enser's green-uniformed clean-up workers
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The project meant to solve Cairo's persistent cleanliness problem seems to have landed atop a heap of problems of its own. With two foreign firms already well into their clean-up operations in Cairo's eastern and western districts, and one Giza district as well, people's complaints about the pace and efficiency of the project, as well as its costs, are getting louder.
The companies are expected to wash the streets clean, collect garbage door-to-door, and make sure all public space is spotless -- not an easy task considering the almost 5,000 tonnes of garbage in Cairo, and 3,000 tonnes in Giza, that need to be gotten rid of daily.
Expectations have not been fulfilled. Mohamed Ibrahim, who lives in an alley near Bab Al-Sha'riya in Cairo's western district, said, "the foreign companies' employees never showed up at our doors to collect the garbage, so the local garbage collectors still do it," Bab Al-Sha'riya and Al-Wayli are being serviced by the Spanish company Enser, which started its operations almost a month ago. Two weeks into the service, Bab Al-Sha'riya residents spoke of the garbage not being collected for days. At the time, Enser Managing Director Lisardo Gonzales told Al-Ahram Weekly that the service is certain to improve. The beginning, he said, is always the most difficult part.
A month into the scheme, Enser's presence can be felt on the district's streets. Its green containers are on street corners and in front of many of the buildings. Its green-suited staff and their supervisors are often spotted round the capital's busy streets. But still, the complaints -- that there has been scant evidence that the efforts are succeeding, and that the service has not been efficient so far -- continue to be voiced. Coffee shop owner Wahid Shawqi complained about having to tip the new company's collectors to get them to clean up in front of his shop, which is what he said he used to do with the crew from the Cairo Cleanliness and Beautification Authority (CCBA).
In Cairo's eastern district (which includes Heliopolis and Nasr City), where Spanish company FCC has also begun working, it was reported that on some streets, the containers the company provided were stolen.
According to CCBA Director Mohamed Laban, the new companies have had staffing problems. "Some people come, work for just a few days, and leave. Also, the traditional garbage collectors whom the companies have subcontracted have not been showing up regularly." Laban said the CCBA has "been helping them since day one and will continue to do so until they fully adapt and organise themselves". CCBA trucks and staff can frequently be spotted around town these days alongside the private sector crews.
Amongst the factors which got the project started on the wrong foot were delays resulting from the seizure of the companies' equipment by customs authorities, who wanted to charge them 30-40 per cent of the cost of the equipment, instead of the five per cent stipulated by the contracts. Although this problem was resolved, it delayed the launch of the project for several months. The contracts signed between the governorate and the private companies, meanwhile, stipulate a penalty for failure to perform.
The other major sore point for the project has been -- quite expectedly -- billing. The fact that residents are expected to pay their monthly garbage collection fee as an add-on to their electricity bill has generated a lot of controversy.
Using an elaborate index based on the type of property and other factors, a certain percentage of every electricity bill is calculated, and then added on as a garbage collection fee. As the consumption of electricity increases, so does the garbage collection fee.
Although Cairo Governor Abdel-Rehim Shehata has repeatedly announced that 90 per cent of Cairo citizens will pay less than LE4, reports emerged to the contrary. Al-Wafd newspaper broke the story of Hussein Abdel-'Al, who objected to paying LE35 in garbage collection charges on an electricity bill of LE25. Later media coverage revealed that Abdel- 'Al's bill was the result of a technical error. By Monday, Shehata announced that no garbage fees will be issued in Cairo until the companies' services prove efficient.
Electricity Ministry Undersecretary Hamed Omara told the Weekly that "linking the garbage bill to the electricity bill was not our decision. It was the government's decision based on the fact that the electricity [billing] system is the most efficient in the country." Omara made clear that the ministry would not be party to any legal action citizens might file against the government to protest against their new electricity bills.
For now, Bab Al-Sha'riya's modest shop owners are concerned about how much they will have to pay. Coffee shop owner Shawqi says his establishment may consume a lot of electricity, but it generates very little waste. "Why should I pay according to the consumption of electricity?" he asked. "At home, should I tell my wife to depend less on the washing machine, or turn off the fans, in order to avoid a high trash bill? It's simply not logical."
While rumours have inspired fears that refusing to pay exorbitant bills would result in the electricity being cut off, Omara said, "No, no, no. This will never happen."
