Baghdad rubbish poses health hazard

Doctors in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, warn that diseases may spread if accumulated rubbish in many areas of the city is not removed urgently. Dr Ibrahim Youssef, from the Ejidida medical centre in Baghdad, told IRIN that they had seen many cases of children with infections caused by bacteria found in unhygienic places. "A solution to this problem should be found quickly. Even our centre has accumulated rubbish, which is only collected once a week," he said. Local people claim there is an increase in the number of bugs and mosquitoes, something normally uncommon during the winter season. Dr Youssef said the increase in insects could promote the spread of disease. Residents also complained that rubbish collectors do not visit their areas for long periods. "The bad smell is always present inside my home and I cannot do anything about it. Due to a delay by the government in removing it, people have started to dump their rubbish bags in open areas between homes and we cannot do anything to stop it," Hannan Abdul Kareem, a resident of Baghdad's Ejidida district, one of the worst affected areas of the capital, told IRIN. Corruption and bribery is one reason for the problem, according to some. Hathem Abdul Abdul, a rubbish collector in the capital, told IRIN that many of his colleagues choose places to pass through and prefer those where residents will offer them some "extra money" for their work. If his colleagues observed that some streets were not offering them enough, they start to pass through there less frequently, he claimed. "I'm just one of them and cannot force my colleagues to visit everywhere, especially as the driver is the one who decides where to go. But I hope that the government will do something to force them to pass through all areas of the capital," Abdul added. Officials at the Ministry of Public Works (MoPW) said that they had received more vehicles to meet the requirements of the capital and other provinces, as well as hiring new employees, but said it was very difficult for them to control where the workers went every day. Sawsam Mehdy, a senior officer at the MoPW, told IRIN that they were going to form a special group to focus on this issue and find out what was going wrong. "We have decided to send some of our staff to discover the places which are suffering from the rubbish left out and will punish those who are preventing the clean-up of our city," she added. In the Ejidida district, nearly all the streets are damaged and rubbish can be seen strewn across them. Children play in it and sometimes families have to walk over the rubbish to reach their homes. In some areas, signs prohibiting the dumping of rubbish can be seen beside piles of waste dropped by residents. The Tigris river, which runs through the capital, is filled with garbage and sewage. According to government officials, it will require a huge investment to clean up. Since the fall of the last regime in April 2003, many districts in Baghdad have not received any kind of investment from the government, according to local residents, who note that the situation had became worse with many roads blocked due to the huge craters left by the bombing during the conflict. But the problem is not only restricted to the capital. In the city of Fallujah, 60 km west of Baghdad, people have also been suffering from rubbish dumped in the streets, particularly after the fighting between US troops and insurgents ended there in January. The city's residents complain of poor hygiene and even dirty water in the main system. The government has started a clean-up of the city, but the population is urging this to be speeded up. "We have been suffering for a long time from this poor investment in our city and now my son has fallen ill due to the poor hygiene in the streets. The government has closed its eyes to it," Shamis al-Dini, a mother-of-five from the Zeiuna district of Baghdad, told IRIN.