A MOBILE application that allows users to report unremoved garbage is now available, writes Mahmoud Bakr. A system that allows the public to alert the authorities via their mobiles to come and collect rubbish is being rolled out in Cairo. The first phase of a project, launched by the Ministry of Environment's Waste Management Authority in cooperation with local company Environ Adapt, will cover six Cairo neighbourhoods, says Minister of Environment Yasmine Fouad. The new app is being launched within the framework of a cooperation protocol signed between the Ministry of Environment and Environ Adapt to monitor and manage waste in seven governorates — Cairo, Giza, Alexandria, Qena, Assiut, Gharbiya and Kafr Al-Sheikh. The project, says Fouad, is part of the government's efforts to digitise services. The new system uses upgraded digital tools to monitor the piling up of waste in the city. The Dawar application allows members of the public to send photographs and the location of unremoved waste to the authorities so it can be collected. Users who report waste pile-ups will then be sent pictures of the location after the garbage has been removed. Mustafa Khairat, the founder and CEO of Environ Adapt, says the company is working with the Ministry of Environment on non-traditional ways to clean up Egypt's streets. The Dawar application also allows users to access news on sustainability projects in their neighbourhoods and connect with environmentally-friendly companies, civil associations and government agencies. The aim, says Khairat, is to involve everyone in cleaning up the country.
*A version of this article appears in print in the 3 October, 2019 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly.
