As neighborhoods across the city deal with the little if any trash pickups, the New Orleans City Council, meeting as the Budget and Public Works, Sanitation and Environment Committee, will come together to try and find out why the contractor for trash pick up is having such a tough time taking care of their appointed routes in a timely manner.
Before the meeting, one City Councilmember, District E's Cyndi Nguyen, talked with WWL about the problems and the hopes for today's meeting at finding a solution.
"We have neighborhoods, particularly in District E, that haven't received trash service for as long as two weeks," Nguyen says.
Calling it unacceptable, Councilmember Nguyen registered her displeasure with the lack of trash pick up in her district.
"We need some sort of consistency for our citizens," Nguyen says bluntly. "You know, if trash day is Wednesday and Saturday, then that service needs to be provided to our citizens."
Nguyen says this is the time for the Council and representatives of Metro Services Group, the contractor who is having staffing problems and not meeting regular scheduled service, to find common ground and work towards a solution.
"In situations like this, we all have got to come together," Nguyen speaks. "Can the Mayor actually explore some emergency funds to help out with trash service?"
Metro Services Group's problems with a labor shortage, whether caused by COVID-19 or labor strife like in the past, has caused the company to outsource service to a rival company.
Residents who've been waiting for weeks at a time between trash pick ups were happy to see trash trucks, regardless of who's they were, making regular stops to empty out over flowing garbage bins—some with hungry rodents in them.
"I'm glad to know that Metro and IV Waste are talking to bring in that extra help," Nguyen says. "I know Metro has also reached out to other companies to bring that extra help in, but those extra helpers are not consistent."
The meeting of the Budget and Public Works, Sanitation and Environment Committee gets underway at 1 o'clock this afternoon. It's hoped some kind of solution to the problem can get hammered out.