Amid social unrest, streets of Paris piling up with trash

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
12 Mar 2023 17:42

Ever since massive strikes have kicked off in Paris over French President Emmanuel Macron's controversial pension reform, waste pickup services have been interrupted across the capital city.

As of Saturday, about 4,400 metric tones of trash were awaiting collection on the streets of Paris, a spokeswoman for the mayor's office said (AFP)

Shocking photographs published in news reports in recent days showed how waste has piled up in the streets of Paris to unprecedented levels, with piles of black trash bags sitting in some of the city's most scenic streets.

Welcome to Paris 🗼😊 pic.twitter.com/1JvNwqblen
— Tayo Aina (@tayoainafilms) March 11, 2023

The streets of Paris are filled with trash due to demonstrations as thousands protest government pension reform plan https://t.co/Q9EVgGwUL2 pic.twitter.com/8tKMFqWhro
— ANADOLU AGENCY (@anadoluagency) March 11, 2023

Ever since massive strikes kicked off in Paris over French President Emmanuel Macron's controversial pension reform, waste pickup services have been interrupted across the capital city, with some 4,400 tonnes of trash awaiting collection as of Saturday, according to the Paris mayor's office.

Trash piling up in Paris as garbage collectors and other sector workers continue their strike against Macron’s pension reform. pic.twitter.com/y5KEc2UTtQ
— Eleanor Beardsley (@ElBeardsley) March 9, 2023

Garbage collectors have been unable to pick up waste because trash incinerators have been blocked over the past few days due to the strikes.

Some arrondissements did however manage to evade the pile-ups, in particular those who are serviced by private contractors in charge of waste management, which is about a third of Paris.

The remaining arrondissements, which are about two-thirds of the capital city, are under the management of the municipal government. Trash collection in these areas has been the most affected since last Tuesday, the day which recorded the highest number of protesters nationwide.

Not only had 60% of primary school teachers announced they were on strike, but thousands of flights and trains were canceled as well. Schools were shut and oil refiners were blockaded.

Des #éboueurs toujours en #grève, 5.400 tonnes de déchets non ramassées à #Paris pic.twitter.com/52ixeva0h5
— Guillaume Asskari (@Gasskari) March 12, 2023

The trash buildup has particularly raised health concerns among Parisians.

Geoffroy Boulard, the mayor of the 17th arrondissement, told the CNN affiliate BFMTV that he has asked Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo to hire a private service provider to intervene.

"We can't wait," he said. "This is a matter of public health."

On late Saturday, France's Senate voted to approve the deeply unpopular reform to the country's pension system.

Senators passed the reforms by 195 votes to 112, bringing the package another step closer to becoming law. A committee will now sort out a final draft, which will then be submitted to both the Senate and National Assembly for a final vote.

"An important step was taken this evening with a broad vote on the pension reform text in the Senate," French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne told AFP after the vote, adding that she believed the government had a parliamentary majority to get the reforms passed into law.

Should Macron's government fail to assemble the necessary majority, however, Borne could deploy a rarely used and highly controversial constitutional tool, known as article 49/3, to push the legislation through without a vote.

Unions, which have fiercely opposed the measures, still hoped on Saturday to force Macron to back down.

"This is the final stretch," Marylise Leon, deputy leader of the CFDT union, told the broadcaster Franceinfo on Saturday. "The endgame is now."