This “Food for Cleanliness” initiative is focused on the unplanned community of Ezbet Khairalla. This is the situation there according to one of the NGOs participating in the program:
A population close to 650,000 inhabitants in an area of about 12 square kilometers. 45% males to 55% females. There are 775 mostly unpaved roads, Most of the residents are laborers. Many of the residents are construction workers, with minimal wages that barely support their families. Most basic services are missing such as sewage and garbage collection. There is inadequate education, poor health and social services and a bleak job outlooks.
Now, you have to understand what that looks like to a corporation: it looks like labor camp. A vulnerable, desperate, neglected population, ripe for exploitation.
Yes, collecting and sorting the rubbish is a good thing…but it’s a basic element of the public infrastructure. And, yes, it’s supposed to be ongoing paid work; not a one-off short term project whose remuneration consists of “free” meals three times a week. The waste collected for free is to be used to produce energy for private companies…that’s profit directly derived from exploiting the deprivation and misery of the people.
It doesn’t take much foresight to realize that it is the corporate agenda to spread the model of Ezbet Khairalla throughout Egypt.