A charity that usually responds to global natural disasters has now turned its attention to clearing the streets of Birmingham amid the ongoing bin strike.
Aston-based Faizan Global Relief Foundation (FGRF) has previously responded to flooding in Pakistan and earthquakes in Turkey and Morocco by sending over supplies.
But now its volunteers are working into the early hours to clean up the towering piles of black bags left because of the seven-week strike.
Volunteer at FGRF Muhammad Wasim is a senior IT engineer by day but has dedicated his spare time to clearing the waste. While saying the clean-up wasn’t the charity’s usual line of work, he stressed that it is a “public health hazard” and the charity needed to step up.
“We normally respond to various disasters… but we also do a lot of work to tackle UK child poverty and helping people in the community get health checks,” he told The Independent. “Now the biggest issue in Birmingham with these bin strikes is the black bags that are not being picked up.”
A major incident was declared by Birmingham City Council on 31 March, which allowed the authority to increase the availability of street cleaning, with an extra 35 vehicles and crews.
But the bin strike has been ongoing due to a dispute between the council and Unite the union over pay and job security.
Mr Wasim said the team has seen the odd rat and mouse coming out of bin bags and said the sheer volume of rubbish is stopping people from leaving their homes.
He added: “There have been some areas we have gone to and the bin bags are literally blocking the pavement.
“We feel sorry for the people living there because obviously it stops them from going out because there are so many bags piled up.”
Mr Wasim said the charity was working with private companies to dispose of the rubbish.
Over the past two weeks the charity has already collected hundreds of black bags, thanks to the group of dedicated volunteers.
“The volunteers work eight to 12-hour shifts at their regular jobs and then dedicated their evenings to supporting the city, volunteering six-plus hours and then spending the bank holiday Friday also supporting the community. It is absolutely amazing the dedication we have,” Mr Wasim said.
One volunteer, Qumar Iqbal, who works as a professional driver, said: “I was concerned by the litter and unpleasant odours I encountered while working across the city on a daily basis since the strikes began.
“Motivated to make a difference, I volunteered my time and was proud to witness the positive changes and the uplifting impact it had on Birmingham’s residents.”
One resident from Sparkbrook in south-east Birmingham who gave his name as Sohail said his bags hadn’t been collected in more than two weeks, and it was becoming a “big concern”.
“One night, I saw the volunteers outside with a van and cleaning the street and approached them. They kindly took my household rubbish, which was such a relief and made me really happy,” he said.
It comes as Shadow chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, Alex Burghart, warned of “Rats the size of dachshunds terrifying the local residents.”
He said the huge rats spotted scurrying though waste has prompted fears the piling rubbish could result in a surge in rodent-borne diseases.
Union officials have said the end of the bin strike is in “touching distance”.
Birmingham City Council said: “A dynamic public health risk assessment of accumulated waste was carried out in response to the declaration of the major incident and is regularly reviewed. Monitoring has been established for all identified risks and appropriate mitigating actions have taken place where required. The majority of the excess waste is now cleared and we will continue to monitor the impact on public health.”
