Garbage, rats fill Paris streets due to strikes

ALBAWABA - Photos and videos showing the piles of waste occluding the sidewalks in different areas across the French capital Paris drew rebuke from social media pioneers.

The strike of waste collection workers in Paris to protest against the draft amendment of the retirement law and raising the retirement age by two years to 64 led to the accumulation of waste and the spread of rats in the past few days.

Additionally, three garbage incineration stations outside the French capital stopped working, which also led to garbage bags to overflow from containers and pile up on sidewalks.

Till Tuesday, some 7,000 tons of rubbish had accumulated in the streets, without being collected or removed, according to Paris municipality.

French media outlets said the Champs-Elysées neighborhood, the most important Parisian street, has turned into a public waste-dumping ground. 

Photos and videos from the area showed the accumulation of waste near the Eiffel Tower, a Paris landmark, amid fears of a significant decline in the number of tourists.

Media outlets reported that the smell of rotten food leaked from the accumulated waste bags, which led rats to consider it a good place to search for food.

France is said to be one of the most rat-infested cities in the world. Currently, there are warnings that the accumulation of waste and the increase in the spread of rats will pose health risks.

The strike of waste collection workers is part of the widespread protests that took place in various French cities in January, and over separate days, with the aim of objecting to the draft amendment to the retirement law, especially the legal text that would raise the retirement age from 62 to 64 years.

The protesting sectors considered the decision "unfair" to those involved in hard labor.

Written by Razan Abdelhadi