The Brussels agency responsible for waste collection and street cleaning Net.Brussel is no longer cleaning the streets in the Brabant quarter (Brussels North) after one of its employees was attacked there.
The department has decided to no longer clear the streets in the neighbourhood around the Brussels North station which has a reputation for violence and crime, mostly inflicted by drug gangs operating in the area. It said the decision came after another attack on an employee, Bruzz reported.
The municipality of Schaerbeek, where the district is located, and the police are in dialogue with the agency to figure out a solution. Schaerbeek authorities put several proposals on the table, including changing the working hours to safer times.
Under the current arrangement, most workers start at 05:30. However, the streets are still largely empty at this time, increasing the threat of bad encounters. Talks have not yet seen work resumed, leading the municipality to take on a private company to clean the streets from 1 May.
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Councillor for cleanliness Deborah Lorenzino (Défi) said she and the municipality fully support the officers who have been victims of these "unacceptable acts", adding that "any public servant performing a public service is entitled to respect in the performance of their functions and has the right to perform them in complete safety".
However, she did argue that the agency's decision to no longer clean the streets will make the situation worse, as she believes "leaving dirt in the neighbourhood will only reinforce the feeling of impunity and insecurity".
Net.Brussels will continue to collect rubbish in the quarter but has warned there will be disruptions from Thursday 2 to Sunday 5 May.
