The citizens of Izmir, Turkey’s third largest city, have had enough: the images of piles of uncollected rubbish accumulating for days filling pavements and streets have exhausted the patience of many citizens, unable to understand why the authorities have still not found a solution to a situation that makes the residents of districts such as Konak, Buca, Karşıyaka or Çiğli, all of them located in the city centre, desperate.
In June, Izmir suffered a major strike by municipal employees that paralysed the city’s basic services for a week, including public transport and cleaning, with almost surreal scenes of the city’s metropolitan mayor himself collaborating with groups of volunteers to collect the rubbish that was accumulating in the streets.
A month has passed since then, but the fact remains that today the problems with rubbish piled up in the streets persist without any strike to justify the situation, and there are several districts of this city of 3 million inhabitants that continue to live every day with rubbish piled up and uncollected for days, creating bad smells – especially with the high temperatures of this summer – as well as a bad image and a health risk.
As reported by several Turkish agencies and media this week, the problem of uncollected rubbish accumulation mainly affects the districts of Konak and Buca – in the city centre – and also Karşıyaka and Çiğli – two districts located in the northern part of Izmir city centre – amid the indignation and desperation of the neighbours, who are asking for solutions to be implemented at once to end this serious problem that they are forced to live with every day.
Neighbours, powerless in the absence of solutions
However, and despite the fact that the local media and press as well as social networks frequently echo this inexplicable situation, the municipal authorities so far seem incapable of finding a solution to the problem of the accumulation of rubbish in the streets, which seems to be due to a lack of sufficient cleaning staff.
The apparent indifference or ineptitude of the local authorities to put an end to the piles of rubbish that fill the pavements and streets in the middle of Izmir is increasingly angering citizens, who despite constantly denouncing the situation on social networks are powerless in the face of the apparent lack of solutions from those responsible.
“Izmir does not deserve such scenes, why is it so difficult to collect rubbish on a regular basis?” lamented one fed-up resident. “Every day we experience this. Every week the same picture. The bins are overflowing, there are not enough of them. I am 43 years old, and this is the first time I have seen this,” another resident complained in a video.
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Edited and reviewed by:
Pablo Gómez is a specialist in Turkey and has been editor-in-chief of Hispanatolia since 2011. He has been analysing current affairs and geopolitics in Turkey and the surrounding region since 2006.
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