This was a dangerous promise to make given that so many of the systems required for effective waste management have long since eroded in the capital (if they ever existed.) Meanwhile, the Zabaleen have been keeping Cairo from being completely buried by waste – all of their own accord – by collecting, recycling and sorting what they can. But the importance of the service they provide has long been overlooked by government.

No rest for the recyclers

Spirit of Youth is a non-government organization initially founded in 2004 to represent the Zabaleen – a group of minority Coptic Christians who subsist on the meager proceeds of recycling Cairo’s waste. They received virtually no support from the last regime and now there is a chance they face a similar fate with the new government.

The NGO’s director Ezzat Naiem told Egypt Independent that the Clean Homeland campaign is nothing more than political propaganda and that the campaign managers have declined to discuss the city’s waste management issues with them despite their longstanding experience.

According to the paper, Spirit of Youth has established no fewer than 38 legitimate companies among the Zabaleen trash sorters, who mostly populate the Mokkatam village known as Garbage City.

Roughly 150,000 Zabaleen workers sort about 8,000 tons of waste per day, which amounts to roughly 60% of the capital’s daily waste output. Naiem recommends formalizing this system so that the Zabaleen can actually receive financial rewards for their services.

$1 a month per family is all it takes

Under Naiem’s recommended approach, each family living in buildings throughout Cairo could be required to pay LE5 a month (under $1) to have their garbage collected and sorted.

“With that sort of money, the Zabaleen could personally separate the garbage, recycle what they can, and then send the organic waste to compost sites and the remaining waste to the appropriate facilities — which they do already, but lack finances and motivation to tackle the problem properly,” Naiem told Egypt Independent.

But campaign supervisor Ali Shelby said in a statement that the Clean Homeland campaign has other plans that take inspiration from Turkey’s approach to waste management (links to PDF). He added, however, that the new waste management strategy will involve both multinational companies and the Zabaleen.

In short, it’s not yet clear where the Zabaleen stand under President Morsi, who vowed when he was first elected that no minority religious groups would be marginalized during his presidency. Let’s hope he makes good on his promise. Because if the Zabaleen can’t sort trash, what will they do instead?

:: Egypt Independent

Image credit: Trash in Egypt, Shutterstock

The post Where do Cairo’s Zabaleen Garbage Sorters Stand Under President Morsi? appeared first on Green Prophet.

Brochures for the Giza Pyramids usually depict Egypt’s historic relics amid a poignant desert background or a deep, radiant sunset. Camels and their Bedouin owners lurk in the background, poised to take visitors on the adventure of a lifetime. But these images spread only half the truth.

Although numbers have dropped precipitously since the revolution, in 2010 tourism accounted for approximately 11% of the country’s GDP. So it stands to reason that the authorities take excellent care of their national treasures, right? Unfortunately not.

During Mubarak’s 30 years as President, Egypt fell into a terrible decline, mummifying basic goods and services. And the masses have grown to accept life in the shadows of a once-great nation. This video depicts what the road to Giza really looks like and underscores the enormous challenges President Morsi has to face.

Video and story by Tafline Laylin

Desert Dancer by DJ Nickodemus

The post Giza Pyramids Pollution and What the Brochures Don’t Show (Video) appeared first on Green Prophet.

“He said to give him 100 days,” Hashim continued, referring to President Morsi’s promise that he will fix problems such as the poor quality of bread and burgeoning trash in just over three months. But without a constitution and with both budgetary and legislative power in the hands of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF), it is unclear whether he will have sufficient control of the country’s limited resources to make good on his promises.

A small handful of ordinary citizens grabbed brooms and cardboard boxes to help uniformed workers load plastic bottles and junk food packaging into large black plastic bags while scores of Morsi supporters remain camped out in Tahrir Square.

Cars push through the crowd with bursts of celebratory hooting. Many people here, like Hashim, have gone several days without washing and show no signs of leaving anytime soon. A large podium and dozens of tents are still erected and vendors continue to sell flags, pro-revolutionary t-shirts and greasy food.

An industrious man in his early twenties painted a heart-shaped Egyptian flag on my hand as a small mob of rambunctious friends looked-on. When he finished and I slipped away from the growing hordes, he chased after me.

“It’s 25 [Egyptian] pounds,” he said. “I’m working.”

But there is a serious undercurrent to the jubilant mood as thousands of Egyptians wonder what kind of future awaits them.

A waiter at an ethnic restaurant in Maadi, an upscale neighborhood south of Cairo, promised himself he would start looking for a job outside of Egypt if the conservative candidate won.

“I don’t want people looking at my wife, criticizing what she is wearing,” he said.

In response to concerns like this, President Morsi has resigned from both the Muslim Brotherhood and the Freedom and Justice Party in a show of solidarity with all Egyptians and promised to protect the rights of women and religious minorities.

He also agreed to honor all international agreements.

Egypt needs a knight in shining armor, someone who will eschew power struggles in order to focus on the innumerable problems of daily life in Africa’s most populous country: traffic, pollution, waste management, food prices and job creation. For now, Morsi is in the saddle. How long he will remain there depends on his ability to pry open SCAF’s white-knuckled grip on power.

The post President Morsi and the Tahrir Square Hangover appeared first on Green Prophet.