Pigs Are Gone…And Garbage And The Unemployment Remain

Written by Almasry Alyoum
14 May 2000
At the time the Council of Ministers decided on the continued process to get rid of all the pigs in Egypt the garbage pickers' crisis grew, as most of them stopped working, pending the satisfactory solution to the swine flu. Isaac Mikhail head of the garbage pickers said the number of workers in garbage is up to 400,000 in Greater Cairo - as he put it - working in 7 areas.
Michael added that garbage workers in the region of Manshiyat Nasser collect on a daily basis 8,000 tons of garbage from Cairo, 60% of which are organic materials versus 40% of solid materials. Sayed Mohammed Elsayed who is in charge of hygiene in a private company in Albalbragel, said the slaughter of pigs backfired with respect to hygiene in many areas in Giza. While the 6th of October province has slaughtered 11,311 pigs, there was anger and resentment among workers and employers in the pigsties of Albalbragel. It was around 3 thousand people, living in 200 homes of straw and wood with tons of garbage piled up in the place, and some left the region for their inability to pay rent which they used to afford from pig breeding and screening of garbage.
The Council of Ministers called to provide the province of Helwan as an alternative to the establishment of farms for resettlement and the raising of pigs which is consistent with the health and veterinary requirements, with the Ministry of Local Development overseeing the implementation of those requirements.
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