Parisians Express Anger over City's Garbage-laden Streets, Share Pictures and Blame Politicians

What comes to your mind when someone mentions the world-famous city of Paris? Is it Eiffel Tower, premium French luxury, Macarons or Croissants? Well, your impression of the city of love might just change if you come across a trending social media hashtag, SaccageParis. True to its meaning, the pictures posted on Twitter under this hashtag shows an unexpected side of Paris, with overflowing garbage and no cleanliness, whatsoever, in the otherwise romantic cobblestone streets of the French capital.

According to a report by news.com.au, the Paris City Council officials blame this mess of the capital city for the 10 per cent reduction in the number of cleaners who were employed to keep the streets clean, due to the coronavirus pandemic.

With the loss of jobs and no proper maintenance of the city, angry locals are blaming their deterioration on the downfall of the capital that began long before the coronavirus pandemic entered the country, with Paris simply abandoned by its politicians. The news report by The Morning Bulletin mentions that although garbage is the primary issue that catches one’s eye on social media, many are also blaming the politicians of the country for not paying much attention to the city.

In one of the tweets posted by a Parisian, a number of planter boxes are seen broken or graffitied containing long-dead shrubs. Another image shows how wooden benches are crumbling or have been pulled off, fuse boxes are falling from walls and street signs are missing, to name a few maintenance issues. Many are seen blaming the city’s Mayor Anne Hidalgo for her inaction and lack of interest in maintaining the capital city.

Sharing a before and after image of one of the wooden benches in Paris, one user tweeted that beyond the clear political angle and the general need for more cleanliness, part of what #saccageparis seems to be pointing to is that a lot of the asymmetrical, modern ‘wood aesthetic’ benches in places like République looked great initially but just did not age well.

Earlier, a Reuters report stated the highly contagious variant of the coronavirus first detected in Britain now accounts for up to 20% of infections in the wider Paris region, a leading hospital executive said, calling for more restrictive measures to rein in the disease.

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