Cleaning abandoned and destroyed houses in Sheikh Meqsoud

Aleppo – North-Press Agency

This week, the People’s Municipality of the Sheikh Meqsoud and Ashrafiyeh neighborhoods in the city of Aleppo began a hygiene campaign to remove debris and clean up dirt from the homes of people displaced during the war years.

The Sheikh Meqsoud neighborhood was shelled from the beginning of the Syrian war until 2016, which resulted in destruction and damage to civilian homes. The neighborhood also witnessed hostilities between armed opposition groups and the Kurdish-led People’s Protection Units (YPG).

After implementing precautionary measures against coronavirus in the neighborhood, such as the sterilization of streets and cars, the municipality, in cooperation with the neighborhood councils, decided to remove debris and dirt from the abandoned houses that became gathering places for dust and dirt.

Mazlum Muhammad, the administrator of the People’s Municipality of Sheikh Meqsoud and Ashrafiyeh, told North-Press that the work to move the debris was done with the help of the residents and communes.

Zuhair Khalo, co-chair of Sheikh Meqsoud Sharqi council of the Martyr Gelhat Commune, told North-Press that the large number of destroyed houses there made them think about removing dirt and debris, which would be a learning experience for the public.

Ahmed, a resident of the Sheikh Meqsoud Sharqi neighborhood, complained that “members of the communes clean some houses, while ignoring others on the pretext of forgetting them while working or not knowing that they are empty.”

"The municipality's cleaning workshops are responsible for the houses that the district councils ignored during the campaign," Ahmed said.

Resident Jiwan Muhammed said that this step was “good, and got rid of bad smells. The house across from mine was deserted and full of debris and trash that neighbors threw there.”