Cairo - what a pile of rubbish

The genius minds in Cairo decided to stop the H1N1 virus, aka Swine Flu, by killing all of the pigs in the city boundaries. I guess its akin to the logic of killing off all of the local human population as that too would stop the spread of the virus.

What was not taken into account is that the pigs in the area ate the tons of organic rubbish thrown out by the dynamic and evolving population.

Ramadan Hediya, 35, who makes deliveries for a supermarket, lives in Madinat el Salam, a low-income community on the outskirts of Cairo.

“The whole area is trash,” Mr. Hediya said. “All the pathways are full of trash. When you open up your window to breathe, you find garbage heaps on the ground.”

What started out as an impulsive response to the swine flu threat has turned into a social, environmental and political problem for the Arab world’s most populous nation.

New York Times, 19/9/09

The article continues;

It has exposed the failings of a government where the power is concentrated at the top, where decisions are often carried out with little consideration for their consequences and where follow-up is often nonexistent, according to social commentators and government officials.

Image via Wikipedia

“The main problem in Egypt is follow-up,” said Sabir Abdel Aziz Galal, chief of the infectious disease department at the Ministry of Agriculture. “A decision is taken, there is follow-up for a period of time, but after that, they get busy with something else and forget about it. This is the case with everything.”

Its a very interesting article that combines government ineptitude, paranoia and environmentalism.


kthanxbai!