Residents cry foul as trash piles up in Basra’s streets

BASRA, July 31 – The streets of Basra’s Al-Madina district were filled with piles of trash on Sunday, as residents urged the municipality and local authorities to take action and prevent the spread of disease.

Local resident Mohammed Kazem told 964, “If the municipality does not take action to solve the issue of waste piles, they will turn into bigger mounds tomorrow, which could lead to the spread of diseases and attract harmful insects.”

Abu Hayder, another resident, said: “The evening shift alone is not enough to clear the waste piles from the center and outskirts of the district. It requires greater effort.”

“We demand that the district administration and the municipality intervene and urgently address this problem before it worsens,” he added.

Rafid Al-Shawi, the district mayor of Al-Madina, explained: “Due to the Ashura holiday, sanitation workers were unable to clean the district’s streets for the past two days. However, our municipality staff will start addressing these waste piles tomorrow.”