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Private Sector Participation in Solid Waste Management
of Aleppo, Syria

Prepared by:
Dr. Farid Zeidan, Director of Health Affairs Directorate at Aleppo City Council

1. Introduction

   Aleppo (Halab in Arabic), like Damascus and Jericho, is one the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. It had been a thousand years in existence when Rome was founded. It has kept its architectural texture because of the wide use of limestone in building. The city, together with its surrounding areas, is rich in antiquities. Its castle, dominating the city on a hill 61 m high, is one of the largest in the world.

   The second largest city in Syria, Aleppo is 375 km north of Damascus. Its geographical coordinates are 36. Lying on a plateau 379 m above sea level, it has a climate, which is cold in winter and hot in summer. The average annual temperature is 17.3 degrees centigrade. The average annual rainfall is 250 mm, but sandstorms are rare.

   Aleppo is a major centre of agriculture, trade and industry. It is surrounded by plains producing pistachio nuts, olive oil, cereals and vegetables. Its souks are world famous, and so is its soap (made of laurel and olive oils). The chief industries concentrate on textiles (silk, cotton, and wool); carpets; and cement. Another industrial activity is vehicle servicing and maintenance. Garages and workshops specializing in this are run mainly by a large Arminian community that immigrated from Turkey during the First World War and after.

   Aleppo has a population of 1.9 millions, with a growth rate of about 3.8% per annum. At present, the area covered by the Masterplan is 33,000 hectares, compared to 17,000ha before 1997. Rural-urban migration is high. It has led to the creation of 22 illegal settlements with a combined area of 1863ha, housing about 800,000 people.

   This demographic situation makes providing services, in general, and cleanliness service, in particular, a difficult problem. Other contributing factors to this problem are:

   • The spread of the old city over a large area with very narrow lanes. This makes providing cleanliness service very difficult because it can be done only manually by workers.
   • The mingling of residential, commercial, and small-scale and medium-scale industrial areas. This results in large quantities of mixed solid waste.
   • Close social ties among Alepenes. Parties and other social activities go on until late hours at night, and the garbage generated thereby is usually left uncollected till the following day.
   • High consumption of meat, fresh vegetables and fruits. Such food stuffs produce large quantities of organic waste.

    

2. The Process of Involving the Private Sector in Solid Waste Management in Aleppo

   2.1 The Rationale of Involving the Private Sector in SWM

   a) Lack of available manpower in the Department of Cleanliness.

   • In the pre-1980 period, Aleppo was well serviced as far as cleanliness was concerned. There were enough workers: 1,330 serving a population of 985, 403, that is 1.4 worker to every thousand. Traffic was not heavy and illegal settlement areas did not exist. Since 1984, however, the number of workers began to decline for a number of reasons:
   • Low pay: Inflation began to rise, but public sector salaries did not rise in proportion. Thus the value of the Syrian pound against the US dollar fell between 1983 and 1997 to less then 10%., while salaries increased by no more than 330%.
   • Ready cash and improvement in the construction industry: This provided daily jobs that needed no skill and were less arduous and better paid than those of cleanliness workers.
   • Social attitudes: With the rapid rise of inflation, new social attitudes and standards came into being. In urban areas, cleanliness work has become socially unacceptable.

   Because of these conditions, the number of workers and supervisors in this field decreased to 921 in 1993. The fall in numbers coincided with a sharp increase in the population (1.5 millions), a doubling of the city area, and a jump in traffic density by eight times at least. The result was a sharp decline in city cleanliness, which reached a very critical point in 1993.

   b) Increases in the costs of running some solid waste disposal vehicles.

   These vehicles were owned and operated by the City Council. 1n 1993 and 1994, it was observed that their operation costs soared. Here are two examples:

   • Vehicles used in moving refuse at dump sites: In 1993 and 1994, sharp cost rises were observed in operating two bulldozers and one fork-lift tracked vehicle working at the dump site. These rises resulted from the age of these vehicles and their state of maintenance and repair. The costs to the City Council in 1993 were as follows:

   
   

   Table 1: Costs of vehicles used in moving refuse at dumpsites

   Item	Costs
   Repair	4,500,000
   Fuel	450,000
   Regular Maintenance & Oiling and lubrication	300,000
   Wages	180,000
   Additional cost: Transporting vehicles for repair	70,000
   Total	5,500,000

   In addition, there was the cost of hiring vehicles from the private sector when the City Council vehicles were out of service. In 1993, that amounted to about SP4,500,000, bringing the total for that year to about 10 million Syrian pounds. This figure was exorbitant compared with what the cost would have been if the private sector had done the work instead. It would have been done better for no more than two million Syrian pounds, according to 1995 estimates.

   The Cost of Operating a Compactor: It was also observed in 1993 and 1994 that the American made 1976-model Mack compactors, which had done good service in the previous period, became very costly to operate by the City Council. In 1993, the cost of maintaining and repairing 14 compactors, to keep no more than 4-6 of them in service, was 14,320,000 Syrian pounds. Thus, the cost of operating a 40-per-cent ready Mack compactor was as follows:

   Table 2: Cost of operating a 40-Percent Mack Compactor

   Item	Cost
   Repair	2,380,000
   Fuel	110,000
   Regular maintenance & oiling and lubrication	150,000
   Wages of drivers and workers	180,000
   Total	2,820,000

   Such costs and the poor readiness of these vehicles resulted in the disruption of emptying waste containers. Contracting the private sector was a practical way out.

   c) Unplanned city expansion and the growth of illegal settlement areas

   Reference has been made earlier to these areas. They are 22 in number, 1,863ha in area, and about 800,000 in population. Lacking proper and planned roads, they are very difficult to serve by the public sector considering its red tape and slowness to respond. This makes it necessary to serve them by methods and means the private sector can provide more easily and effectively.

3. The Regulatory Framework of PSP in Urban Services in Aleppo

   The following measures are taken, according to the Syrian Law of Contracts, in order to make the private sector undertake any city council work:

   1. The preparation of a study, which identifies the work concerned, the need for it, and the inability of the council staff to do it.
   2. The preparation by the relevant department of a dossier containing the study and what the private sector should do, a price analysis, and a complete book of terms. All the documents should be signed by the relevant director, and the director of financial affairs before they are taken to the council chair for his signature.
   3. Making the dossier known to the private sector. This is done in various ways, through the press, on the council notice board, or by direct contact.
   4. The contract with the successful bidder is presented for approval to the council chair and then to the executive bureau. If the contract is worth between half a million and five million Syrian pounds, it is sent for approval to the Council of State and to the Ministry of Local Administration. If it is worth more than five million pounds, it is sent to the Economic Committee of the Cabinet. When all the necessary approvals are given, the contract is passed on to the private sector contractor. He carries out the work under the supervision of the department and the directorate concerned. A committee for supervision and approval of the contractor's work is established, and he is paid according to the work done after his work has been approved by a supervision committee.

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