CAIRO: The garbage collection crisis between the Giza governorate and the Italian cleaning company has escalated since the latter's failure to carry out its responsibilities. "The company violated the terms of the contract, working 24 hours in three shifts. It refrained from collecting piles of garbage in the neighborhoods of Dokki, Giza and Agouza, resulting in the accumulation of garbage in streets, said Ahmed Al Nassar, head of the cleaning and beautification agency in Giza. He added that the agency, along with the Ministry of State for Environmental Affairs, had appointment more than 200 new workers to cover the shortfall with new equipment to help lift more than 9,000 tons of garbage this week alone. An employee at the Italian company who spoke on condition of anonymity, said, "There is a large rift between the company s board and the Giza governorate as the contract hasn't been modified since 2003.We are working with only 40 percent of our capacity until a satisfactory agreement is reached. Negotiations with the governorate are still on as we demand increasing the percentage of the profit and calling off unfair fines [that could reach LE 1 million per month]. The Giza Local Council last week reviewed the terms of the contract and discussed the possibility of canceling the contract with the Italian company that expires at the end of 2015, because of their repeated failure, as was the case with the Spanish company two years ago. In 2003, municipal officials in Giza awarded contracts to two foreign companies to clean the streets along with the Cairo Cleaning and Beautification Authority (CCBA). The Italian International Environment Services (IES) covers Mohandiseen, Dokki and Imbaba, serving more than 1.5 million people along with the Spainsh company that pulled out of service two years ago.
