Disaster relief volunteers turn to city's bin bags

A Birmingham charity which supports those affected by global natural disasters has turned its attention to clearing the city's rubbish amid an ongoing bin strike.

Aston-based Faizan Global Relief Foundation (FGRF) usually responds to disasters such as flooding in Pakistan and earthquakes in Syria, sending over supplies to aid relief efforts.

But since the strike began on 11 March, volunteers have been working into the night to remove uncollected waste piling up on Birmingham's streets.

Muhammad Wasim from FGRF said he never expected the time would come when he would be collecting bin bags but it was important that community groups "stepped up".

Mr Wasim told BBC Radio WM that volunteers had been working 12 hour shifts in their personal jobs before returning home and then going straight back out to collect rubbish building up on the side of roads, sometimes working until 03:30 to 04:00 BST the next day.

"It's been really great work from them, I cannot thank them enough," he said.

"Because we are part of a religious organisation, one thing that really inspired us to do this is the Prophet Muhammad mentions that cleanliness is half of your faith so that's what really motivated some of our volunteers to step up and help the city."

Mr Wasim, who works as a senior IT network security engineer in his day job, said volunteers had been working with private-based companies to dispose of the rubbish, and while they had witnessed "many rats and mice", things were starting to look better.

"For the last week or so we have seen a huge amount of improvement, especially scenes of rubbish piling up, we haven't seen that for the last week or so."

In the House of Commons on Tuesday, Jim McMahon, local government minister, said Birmingham City Council had the situation "in hand", adding at least 26,000 tonnes of rubbish had been removed from city streets and "regular bin collections had resumed" despite disruption caused by the strike.

Birmingham City Council declared a major incident on 31 March.

It allowed the authority to increase the availability of street cleansing and fly-tipping removal, with an extra 35 vehicles and crews.

But the dispute between the council and Unite the Union over pay and the cutting of the Waste Recycling and Collection Officers (WRCO) role continues.

Talks are due to resume next week.

• Why are Birmingham bin workers on strike?
• How much do bin workers get paid?

FGRF Volunteer Qumar Iqbal, who works as a driver in his professional capacity, said he was "motivated" to make a difference after encountering litter and "unpleasant odours" while working across the city.

"I volunteered my time and was proud to witness the positive changes and the uplifting impact it had on Birmingham's residents," he added.

Saima Suleman, who represents the Hall Green North ward on Birmingham City Council, thanked the volunteers on Facebook.

She said: "Many of these volunteers have jobs to get to the next morning yet they still show up, night after night, driven by a deep love for our community.

"That kind of selfless dedication deserves to be recognised and celebrated."

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