Binning the bins

As part of the Clean Dhaka campaign, both DNCC and DSCC mayors set up hundreds of bins in their respective areas for better garbage management in the city. However, photos of waste bins published in this newspaper yesterday paint a contradictory picture. While one photo is of a bunch of dustbins taken out of city streets carelessly dumped, the others depict a bin overflowing with garbage and a bin holder with a missing bin.

These photos expose the glaringly poor maintenance of installed dustbins which are part of a well-intentioned initiative. We fail to understand why the authorities deemed it fine to unload many of these dustbins in a public space. What message does this send out to city residents among whom there is a lack of awareness regarding cleanliness to begin with? Is it not antithetical to the very purpose of the Clean Dhaka campaign? Furthermore, it is incomprehensible, and almost comical, that installed bins should be stolen so easily from the middle of the streets. It seems that the planning of the installation of waste bins was not well-thought-out because of their fragile construction which allows for their easy removal from the base and the lack of awareness programmes prior to the launching of the initiative.

We hope that the authorities will take swift notice of this issue and reverse the prevalent attitude of indifference towards waste management. If the capital is to become a cleaner, more liveable city then the concerned authorities must lead by example. A public space strewn with garbage bins and the theft of waste bins designated for residents most definitely do not set the right tone among city dwellers when it comes to keeping the city clean.