21.8 tons of garbage collected in 7 months

CAIRO - 30 March 2019: Minister of Local Development Mahmoud Shaarawy announced on Saturday that 18.8 million tons of garbage have been collected from all 27 governorates between July 2018 and February 2019 in addition to three million tons of garbage that have accumulated over several years.

The minister told Egypt Today that 420 unlicensed garbage areas had been removed revealing that 425 contractors are used to collect the garbage while 27 contractors assume recycling. The number of landfills have reached 47.

Minister Shaarawy added that the “We Will Embellish It” initiative had planted 73,500 trees of olive, fig, lemon, grenade, and guava in 11 governorates, and that it will be introduced in the remaining governorates.

The minister said that the initiative called “Your Voice is Heard” encouraged many citizens to submit complaints about different violation. Forty five percent of those were about garbage thrown into the streets, and 90 percent of the garbage reported were lifted.