The dirt piled up, the residents moved out, the municipality promised, but nothing changed.
(live here) – "For a long time, complaints and reports have been accumulating from residents of Haifa about a persistent pollution problem in a central section of the city. Along the sidewalk between the crosswalk and the metro stations near the Grand Canyon, disposable drinking cups, plastic bottles, food wrappers and leftover waste are piled up, some of which is stuck in the stone fence and among the vegetation."
Despite repeated calls to the municipal hotline 106, it does not appear that any real treatment is being carried out at the site. The municipality reports that the complaints are being 'treated', but on the ground the reality looks different - the waste is not being cleaned up, but is just accumulating.
This is one of the city's most central and busiest hubs, where hundreds of residents and students pass every day on their way to the shopping center, public transportation hubs, and nearby neighborhoods. Yet, the area is neglected – a direct result of a lack of basic maintenance.
Nikolai Ovchinnikov, a city resident who regularly passes by the place, describes to 'Hai Pa' his growing frustration: "Every time I see the same waste – cups and bottles from today, from last week and from the month before. I contacted the municipality several times, and each time I received a response that it had been taken care of. In practice, nothing has changed. They simply don't care, and it's been several months since I've cleared out the garbage – and the waste is just increasing."
Unfortunately, this is not the first time that residents in Haifa have chosen to turn to the media instead of the municipal hotline, after losing faith in the municipality's ability to handle simple, everyday nuisances. As residents, these are not unusual demands - cleaning public spaces is a basic, minimal service that must be carried out proactively and regularly.
The "Hai Pa" system receives many inquiries from residents who describe a sense of despair and alienation. "Why do we have to chase the municipality to clean it up?", Ovchinnikov continues to ask, "We pay one of the highest property taxes in the country, at least they will provide services accordingly."
It seems that only when the issue makes headlines do things start to move. But is this the right way? Should the municipality wait for media inquiries to take action regarding routine cleaning?
Residents expect to see change not only in promises, but in actions. Because ultimately, a clean city is not a luxury, it is a basic right of every resident.
No response was given from the Haifa municipality.
Take the initiative to clean up on your own and you'll get a sigh of relief on your property taxes.
This is true for the entire city. From being the cleanest city in the country, we have reached a situation where the city is among the dirtiest. You don't see cleaning workers on the streets. They don't clean around the trash cans. And pigs are also roaming around in Kiryat Eliezer.
It's true that they don't clean outside the main roads, but it's not just the municipality that needs to clean. Residents also need to maintain cleanliness. Dog owners need to clean up after their dogs. Yes, store owners, like in the sand, are required by law to clean the front of their stores themselves. And that should be in the law. The big problem is that garbage container removal workers who offer the containers open the lids and by the time they reach to empty them, the birds scatter the contents and the wind too. The last thing that people throw garbage at is to close the container. In short, they need to keep the lids closed.
For the sake of interest, in the picture, there is an ancient "hand stone" carved next to the McDonald's cup.
Referral to the authority is justified, but it is the public that causes the accumulation of garbage, so self-education..I was in Crete, zero dirt on the streets. People think they have servants! A week of inspectors lurking and issuing fines will advance the solution.
You are absolutely right, our culture here is to litter without any accountability and have others clean it up. It's like that in the city and at every nature site, some of the sites are so filthy that it breaks your heart. It's first and foremost education at home.
Hello, I live at 134 Haginim Boulevard and the municipality is not coming here. The place is run down. There is no parking for residents. The building is dangerous and the municipality doesn't care. Trees are going to fall. What are they waiting for? I don't know.
The whole city is dirty, not just there, they only clean what's on the sidewalk, but if the garbage falls next to the sidewalk in nature, they don't clean it anymore.