Cairo's big clean-up starts small

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Helpers were equiped with tools and cleaning equipment to deal with the mess By Christian Fraser BBC News, Cairo

Cairo is now home to some 15 million people - a burgeoning population that produces approximately 10,000 tonnes of rubbish per day, putting an enormous strain on public services.

In the past 10 years, the government has tried hard to encourage private investment in the refuse sector, but some estimate 4,000 tonnes of waste is left behind every day, festering in the heat as it waits for someone to clear it up.

It is often the people in the poorest neighbourhoods that are worst affected.

But in some areas they are fighting back. In Shubra, one of the northern districts of the city, the residents have taken to the streets armed with dustpans and brushes to clean up public areas which have been used as public dumps.

It's up to us. We have to mobilise the people, take responsibility for our own communities Team leader Abdullah <a class="" href="/1/hi/world/middle_east/country_profiles/737642.stm">Country profile: Egypt</a>

On Tuesday, the target was a pedestrian tunnel running beneath a railway line.

It is dimly lit, full of rotting food, plastic bags and tin cans that people have discarded as they walk past.

Some local women, who have called for action, complain it has become a regular haunt for drug addicts.

"It was full of rubbish - people dumped everything in here," said Howeda.

"There was only one bulb that was working and many women cross this railway line in the evening to get to the mosque. I was too frightened to use it."

About 25,000 people in the neighbourhood depend on the tunnel for access to the city.

"It's the only way to cross the railway embankment," said Abdullah, one of the team leaders plastering over the cracks in the wall.

"Cairo is growing too fast," he said.

"The private sector won't fix problems like this. They are overwhelmed by all the other problems in the city. It's up to us. We have to mobilise the people, take responsibility for our own communities."

Community spirit

On this occasion they have encouraged between 20 and 30 people to help out; mostly young people. They are supplied with plastic gloves and face masks.

Once the tunnel is clear of rubbish they set about removing the posters on the walls and repair the lights.

It is all part of a three-year project to help seven districts in the north of Cairo.

Unfortunately the district manager arrived to make sure the work stopped

The residents are supported by COSPE (Co-operation for Development of Emerging Countries), an NGO supported by the Italian foreign ministry.

Lara Colace, the project manager, said the aim is to develop across the city a new sense of community spirit.

"It takes collective effort to clean a neighbourhood," she said. "We try to bring together the community leaders, the private and public sectors, the NGOs and the mosques."

"We even advertise on Facebook to get out the volunteers. Most of those who came today were young children which is great.

"Slowly we are changing attitudes. We teach them about the health risks involved with solid waste. We target bridges, tunnels, parks - anything the community uses on a regular basis that has run into disrepair."

It is not easy changing attitudes within a community, nor is it easy to overcome the bureaucracy that so often suffocates worthwhile initiatives.

And as if to prove that point, the district manager soon arrived to stop the work.

His men cleared the tunnel - of people - and he tried to make sure no further repairs were carried out.

Apparently, he had not been properly informed, even though the NGO says it sent letters to everyone in the district and advertised the project for several days.

Cleaning up a small pedestrian tunnel is barely a dent in Cairo's towering refuse problem, but the positive response that came from those cleaning or passing through the tunnel reflected a wider frustration felt across the city.

Cairo is facing enormous challenges dealing with this fast-growing population. But perhaps these small initiatives, that often go unseen, set the example not just for the rest of Egypt, but across the Middle East.