Ajman residents raise a stink over locked garbage bins

Residents and shopkeepers in Ajman are worried about how to dispose their daily waste, after the disappearance of many trash bins from the streets, forcing them to dump their waste in public places. 

A casual look at any busy street or residential area of Ajman suggests that people are just putting their garbage in black plastic bags and dumping them around the locked trash bins. 

 “We don’t know how to manage our garbage because most of the public trash bins have disappeared and only one or two are left in some areas.

"Shops and restaurants are advised to get their own small waste boxes and keep them under lock and key. Every week, the waste collection trucks come and pick up waste three times for a charge of Dh150 per month. If the trucks visit more than three times, we have to pay more,” said a restaurant owner in Ajman. 

“As shops that own waste bins keep them under lock and key, other small shopkeepers, who used to dump their waste in public garbage bins, are forced to dump their waste around the locked private trash boxes, which results in ugly and unhygienic scenes all over the emirate,” said another resident, who normally dumps his garbage at street corners when no one is watching. 

While renewing their trade licenses shops have to pay one year’s waste collection charges in advance and many small shops find it difficult to pay Dh200 per month just for garbage collection.

One report suggested that Ajman's 230,000 residents, as well as its industries, hospitals and construction sites generate almost 160,000 tons of waste per year. The amount is set to grow to 541,873 tons in 2013 and to more than two million tons by 2030. 

Waste pickers find it impossible to take out soft drink bottles and aluminium cans because the garbage boxes are locked. 

“We used to get a lot of bottles when there were public waste disposal bins everywhere. Now there are only very few public waste bins and the private ones remain locked and inaccessible for us,” said a waste picker.

“Six or seven waste bins are placed here, all locked, and people just dump their waste around the locked bins,” he added. 

“During Eid celebrations, waste collection trucks did not come for a couple of days, leaving the area filled with garbage bundles. It is a very unhygienic situation with people keep dumping their waste every day,” said a shop owner. 

Ajman Municipality imposes heavy fines if their inspectors spot people dumping garbage.

“The economic situation is not very rosy and we have to spend Dh200 per month only to get waste removed. To reduce the monthly pay out for garbage collection, we limit the number of truck visits to two or three per month. This could affect the health of residents,” added another resident. 

“We keep our waste bin locked because, if it is open, other shops will just dump their garbage in it. The bundles of waste spread all over the emirate is an indication that garbage management system is in a mess now,” he added. 

According to an Ajman Municipality source, waste collectors will come and remove garbage if they are informed. 

An official from the Health, Safety and Environment Department said they will look into the problem. “Tell us the area where garbage bundles are dumped and we will take action,” the official said. 

Follow Emirates 24|7 on Google News.