Thoughts on: Garbage problems around Soliman Gohar square, Dokki

So, lately, I have once again been baffled by something which is total normal in Egypt. 

Consistently for the past few weeks, everyday that I go out around 8am, I see at least three garbage trucks picking up the garbage at Soliman Gohar (SG) Square. 

SG square is a place where all the garbage gets deposited (not in bins, on the floor, taking up two or three parking spots) from the surrounding market place and businesses. Usually there is a bit of a lag between the accumulation and the pick up. Not so anymore! But now, we have not one company cleaning up, we have TWO!

From what I've gather based on different local nearby merchants, one company is the government entity (or governorate, not sure) where the workers get paid peanuts (300 EGP/month?). this money gets collected as part of the water bill (which for our 5-story building is about 250 LE per month (including both) according to my cheap-o landlady). 

The private company that picks up the garbage and does a good job is the one were each apartment unit or business has to pay about 15 LE per month for their private services. That's the service traditionally associated with the zabaleen in manshiet nassr (I went to see an exorcism there in 2011). They are also generally considered very efficient. This has been extensively covered by Western media.

Anyway, the point being, we went from having not enough garbage pick up, to TOO much garbage collection. And still no garbage bin. 

Finally, a nice quote from my favorite NGO operating in Egypt, GIZ:

"The institutions responsible for waste collection and disposal are unable to cope with the complexity of the task in hand despite international support. There is no legal framework or strategic planning and responsibilities and tasks are not clearly allocated. The sector is significantly underfinanced and has an enormous need for long-term investments and services."

That's the zabaleen truck. pilled high. probably super dangerous for the roads too. and therefore perhaps TOO "efficient". 

Here, we have a view of the square, with one truck on the left, and two on the right, and one behind us (above). Normally the garbage is piled up in the center of the photo where the three men are standing side by side.  

This is from a different date than the two photos above. same location. "The truck has become the bin..." I like the tree/shrub sticking out of the back of the truck. 

Cairo, Day 983

Today –Saturday– was a good day.

Four different girls felt the need to touch my soft short hair :-)

Dokki Metro Station. My favorite exit.

Some downtown graffiti. Notice "Gika" in the bottom right, he'll appear again further down.

I finished reading "A Short History of Tractors in Ukranian". Very fun book.

I went to book club. Today we talked about "Black Faces, White Masks" and "the Yacoubian Building" as well as the general "otherness" theme.

Yacoobian Building style. See the boy, the old lady, and the two girls?

BookClub-goers admiring the view

Then I hung out with Namaai kids at Makan for an open mic and a discussion on two short movies. All in Arabic, I could understand almost everything.

حب عميق

After that, had the regular kofta sandwich in dokki sq. Now back home, organizing photos and this week's lovely blog posts by Safy :-)

RIP Gika, whoever you are.

Photo: Tahrir Street Today, Dokki

Kids playing with huge cardboard boxes on the sidewalk of Tahrir Street. There's a kid inside each of these.

It was hilarious. They were having so much fun :-)

'Aza' (funeral) blocking off Soliman Gohar street at its intersection with Tahrir street. The owner of the juice shop on that same intersection passed away. Soliman Gohar continues behind the photo. This is going to cause big traffic in my neighborhood.