Tel Aviv residents turn up noses at delay in garbage removal

"If we lived in north Tel Aviv no one would treat us like this," one resident said.

By MIRIAM BULWAR DAVID-HAY (TRANSLATED)
Tel Aviv residents or builders who leave their garbage out in the street can expect to receive hefty fines, but it seems a blind eye is turned when the city itself creates a mess, reports Yediot Tel Aviv. Municipal inspectors apparently simply "do not see" a pile of garbage left by municipal workers in Kfar Shalem more than two months ago in plain view of the residents who live across the street. According to the report, tractors created the initial heap when they dug up the road in order to enable work to be done on sewerage lines and drains on Rehov Shimon Hatzadik. More refuse quickly accumulated on the pile as work progressed, and passersby began to throw litter on to the pile. The city was supposed to clear the mess away when the work was done, but more than two months have since passed with nothing have been done, despite repeated requests by residents in the area. The city has reportedly told residents several times that the pile will be cleared away "soon," leaving them skeptical. "If we lived in north Tel Aviv no one would treat us like this," one resident said. A municipal spokesman said a formal request to remove the garbage had been received on May 15, but when municipal representatives went to check the site they realized that heavy moving equipment would be required. The spokesman said this would be organized "in the coming days."