“Urban hygiene, the garbage issue, should not be such a prominent topic in an election campaign for a city like Lisbon. It only becomes significant because the situation in the city is, in fact, severe; otherwise, we would be discussing housing, mobility, science, education, health, etc.,” noted the lead candidate of the left-wing coalition PS/Livre/BE/PAN for Lisbon’s City Council.
The candidate made a visit today to the Alcântara Sanitation Department, where she engaged with workers, addressing “their needs.”
In a statement following the visit, Alexandra Leitão differentiated her stance, which favors “partial decentralization” of urban hygiene tasks to parish councils, a move implemented since the administrative reform, from that advocated by Carlos Moedas, the current mayor and head of the PSD/CDS-PP/IL coalition, and João Ferreira, the CDU (PCP/PEV) candidate, who advocate for “recentralization.”
“Considering the poor management we have had from the current mayor, I can’t imagine what centralizing everything with him would entail,” she remarked, criticizing “another often-repeated fallacy” that the waste collection is shared between the municipality and parish councils.
“Only the City Council collects waste. The parishes sweep, clean pavements, and remove items left on the ground. The division is very clear. […] People here tell me that, indeed, at a certain point, service improved because there were previously activities like sweeping that were not conducted,” she added.
The leader of the “Viver Lisboa” coalition stresses the need to restore the number of human resources, improve materials, and rethink collection routes.
“When I visited the Telheiras station, which belongs to the Council, they informed me of routes that were left incomplete because the truck either filled up before finishing or broke down,” she illustrated.
If elected as mayor in the municipal elections on October 12, Leitão proposes “increasing the number of collections, depending on city areas,” and better planning of routes to shorten those “where the truck fills halfway” while supplementing them with new routes.
The socialist candidate also intends to address “these material and workforce resource challenges,” establish a container washing center, and restore and increase the number of bins available to buildings.
“There are buildings that requested bins a year ago, and they have not been replaced. People either keep the trash at home or place it neatly on the ground next to the bin. Of course, campaigns for waste separation should always continue. So, there are many things that need to be done for better management,” she concluded.
In addition to Alexandra Leitão, those running for Lisbon’s City Council in the municipal elections include the current president Carlos Moedas (PSD/CDS-PP/IL), João Ferreira (CDU-PCP/PEV), Bruno Mascarenhas (Chega), Ossanda Líber (Nova Direita), José Almeida (Volt), Adelaide Ferreira (ADN), Tomaz Ponce Dentinho (PPM/PTP), and Luís Mendes (RIR).
