Garbage crisis: New firm working for 20 hours a day

Manama : The new Spanish company assigned to clean the Southern and Northern Governorates said it was following an emergency plan by working 20 hours a day to contain the waste crises in both governorates.

Urbaser CEO Luis Delcampa said that the company had faced multiple challenges since it began operations on July 1.

He mentioned that the previous company, Sphinx, did not cooperate with them. He claimed that they hadn’t removed the garbage in the final three days of its contract and flipped the dustbins over, causing accumulation of garbage.

The official also noted that the last 10 days of the Holy Month of Ramadan made the situation worse, as the employees had to halt their work until they were done with their Iftar meals.

“One of the major challenges that the company is witnessing is the summer work ban law. It’s illegal in Bahrain to work in the afternoon between 12 pm and 4 pm throughout July and August,” Delcampa said.

He said the company is working overtime and has increased the number of equipment by 77 cleaning vehicles, reaching a total number of 120 trucks. 

Delcampa also said that the number of cleaners had been increased from 1,170 to 1,370.

DT News reported last week that mounds of trash were dumped in different parts of the Northern and Southern Governorates.