By Joel Ceausu
The Suburban
It’s an enduring issue across the borough. Whether it’s parks with inadequate garbage cans, city streets not cleaned, sewers blocked, or garbage overflowing sidewalks, CDN-NDG’s cleanliness problem is exacerbated come summer, especially around moving season.
West Hill resident Rhiannon Colley told council last week that it is frustrating her and her neighbours between Sherbrooke and De Maisonneuve. “I’ve had to stop one of the businesses (on Sherbrooke) from power-washing their oil hoods into the alley that comes down West Hill, so we have grease coming down the street. They also put out garbage, not in bins, so with the winds on the corner it’s coming down the street, and we’ve got that to deal with.”
It’s not only businesses, says Colley, because Mother Nature also contributes her share. “We have beautiful mature trees, but they shed a lot of branches, leaves and what-not. This spring the cleaning wasn’t done properly and so all our sewers are clogged with gunk from these trees, plus garbage from the businesses.”
She says she’s called the city repeatedly: “I’ve asked, I’ve done, I’ve used the app a few times too, and it keeps saying my service request has been processed and it has been rectified, but I haven’t seen any change.” She told The Suburban: “It seems to fall on deaf ears.”
“I’m just asking if it’s possible,” she asked council, “to come clean our street? Please?”
Borough Mayor Gracia Kasoki Katahwa told her “we’re going to see what’s going on,” and recalled the borough’s recently launched cleanliness awareness campaign, adding, “It’s for each and everyone of us to take our responsibility regarding cleanliness, yes individuals, but also merchants.” She said the borough’s economic commissioners work with merchants on commercial streets to advise them of their responsibilities.
The campaign with catchy graphics and slogan was subject of another question about cost, and what concrete measures are in place to improve not only commercial and arterial streets but residential, especially given the number of overflowing garbage cans during the last two long weekends.
Katahwa said the $50,000 campaign is a tool, but added in recent weeks, “there is a lot more litter and so on because people move. We apply a kind of tolerance and then we also deploy more collections to go and clean certain sectors which are perhaps a little more difficult… Obviously it is our responsibility in the borough to ensure that trash is collected and that the district will remain clean, however it is important, and there are several asking us, to raise awareness among their fellow citizens about cleanliness.”
She says initiatives like hiring park wardens and exploring ways with building owners and residents to keep areas clean are part of the overall plan. Borough employees will go door-to-door in the coming months to discuss the issue, “although in certain neighbourhoods it’s more difficult to speak directly with citizens if they have questions on managing their waste,” adding that organizations like SOCENV help citizens better manage waste issues. n