In Casablanca, trash disappears when the king appears

17/05/2012 / MOROCCO

In Casablanca, trash disappears when the king appears

Bulldozers cleaning the Avenue du 2 mars in Casablanca.

When important Moroccans visit Casablanca – notably, Morocco’s king – bulldozers sweep all the trash from the sides of the roads and leave them spic and span. However, just a few metres away, hidden behind bushes, trash keeps piling up, out of sight of royal eyes.

Casablanca has one of the highest air pollution rates in the kingdom. In 2008, it was home to a full 20 percent of all Moroccans suffering from respiratory diseases. Pollution in the form of trash is also scattered over the city’s sidewalks and empty lots, which are often used as de facto dumps in the absence of adequate garbage collection services.

Bulldozers cleaning the side of the road in Casablanca. Filmed on May 16.

Contributors

Younessgera

"The authorities have abandoned our neighbourhood"

Youessgera is a student. He lives in Zkawra, a residential neighbourhood of Casablanca.

I filmed these videos on May 16 in my neighbourhood, which is located along one of the city’s main thoroughfares. City officials usually decide to clean the streets when a famous person is visiting the city. The clean-up is very superficial. Recently they cleaned the road because King Mohammed VI was visiting. [Morocco’s king was in Casablanca on May 8 to launch “profound” reforms to the judicial system.] However, just a few metres away, still on the side of the road, there is a huge empty lot, located right next to a school, and over the past decade it has turned into a dump. No bulldozer has ever ventured that far.

Every night, people come here to throw their trash and the authorities have never cared. Sometimes, it smells just awful. It’s also infested with insects; no doubt the trash attracts them. Personally, I’m afraid this might be a breeding ground for diseases. No one dares ask the government to do anything about it, and we all know they wouldn’t do anything, anyway. Our neighbourhood has been abandoned.

Empty lot near the residential neighbourhood of Zkawra in Casablanca. Photos by our Observer, Younessgera.

Younessgera

Comments

Morocco is all about

Submitted by balil (not verified) on Sun, 20/05/2012 - 11:27.

Morocco is all about appearances. The democratic sham while the king rules and governs. The lie of the tolerance while women, non-muslims and homosexuals are treated like second class citiz...I mean second class subjects. The fundamentals of the country are straight out of the middle-ages.

Sorry to notice, in many

Submitted by Anonymea (not verified) on Fri, 18/05/2012 - 12:15.

Sorry to notice,

in many Arabic monarchies, there is a lot of hypocrisy...this article alludes to a perfect metaphor for societal realities in Arabic in particular but maybe many more societies all over the world...

garbage - hidden from the king's sight - that's really ridiculous...
I guess, even Arab kings are humans...but somehow they portray themselves as "gods"...

Moroccans abroad seem to tremble if you ask them about their monarchy...that's not reverence that's only fear...
clever decision not to show your face...you'll might starve to death or be tortured in a Moroccan prison...
you're right, probably. no one cares (especially the administrative body)...

yet, if you don't dare to change...there will be no change...what do you expect?
interesting that some Moroccans in European nations either do euphemize Morocco, its government, the king and don't hesitate when it comes to making their voices heard when criticizing European nations but do not dare to speak out against injustice, misery...in Morocco...
wish more people would act this way...hope you raise sensitivity...but I doubt that the ones affected by the polluting sites and the ones in power will address this issue...