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Saudi Ambassador to Tunisia: The Two Countries Share Common Cultural Heritage

Saudi Ambassador to Tunisia Dr. Abdulaziz bin Ali Al-Sager
Saudi Ambassador to Tunisia Dr. Abdulaziz bin Ali Al-Sager
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Saudi Ambassador to Tunisia: The Two Countries Share Common Cultural Heritage

Saudi Ambassador to Tunisia Dr. Abdulaziz bin Ali Al-Sager
Saudi Ambassador to Tunisia Dr. Abdulaziz bin Ali Al-Sager

Saudi Ambassador to Tunisia Dr. Abdulaziz bin Ali Al-Sager, said that the selection of Tunisia as a guest of honor at the Riyadh International Book Fair came in appreciation of the country’s distinguished cultural and civilizational location.

In an interview with Asharq Al-Awsat, Al-Sager noted that Tunisia, through its participation in the book fair, has contributed to a rich program that included all aspects of cultural activity.

“Cultural cooperation and exchange between the Kingdom and the Republic of Tunisia is continuous and evolving in accordance with the executive program signed between the two brotherly countries in the cultural field,” the ambassador said.

He added that Tunisia was chosen as a guest of honor at the International Book Fair, in view of its rich cultural heritage.

“The Ministry of Culture in the Kingdom has been discussing with various countries, including Tunisia, to frame participations and contributions in reviving the world heritage and taking care of books and their many tools; Tunisia has undoubtedly brought an added-value to the Riyadh Exhibition through the prepared program, the participating delegation and the diversity of content that covers all aspects of cultural activity,” Al-Sager stated.

Asked about cultural communication between intellectuals and writers in the Kingdom and Tunisia, the ambassador said: “Communication is continuous, and there are multiple bilateral partnerships, especially that the two countries have a distinguished cultural and civilizational heritage.”

The ambassador noted that Saudi-Tunisian relations dated back to the era of the late founding King Abdulaziz and to the independence of Tunisia under the term of late President Habib Bourguiba.

He emphasized mutual support within international organizations, especially in the cultural aspect, where the two sides encourage the exchange of experiences and cooperation in all files of mutual concern.

In this regard, Al-Sager noted that Tunisia supported the Kingdom’s plan for Expo 2030 and was selected Guest of Honor at the Riyadh International Book Fair, while the Kingdom was the Guest of Honor at the Carthage Film Festival 2022.

Asked about his recent meeting with the Tunisian minister of Culture, he said that discussions tackled the joint cooperation and development, especially in the fields of antiquities, heritage and arts.

The ambassador added that he briefed the minister on the efforts deployed by the Saudi ministry of Culture, in the fields of theater, music, heritage, arts, literature, publishing, fashion, films, visual arts and museums, all of which represent areas of possible joint cooperation with Tunisia.

He also noted that the Saudi embassy in Tunisia was working to implement the agreements reached during the tenth joint committee that was held in Riyadh, in particular with regards to training and the exchange of delegations, technological information and publications.

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Rats Feast on New York’s City’s Bagged Garbage. Can Putting It in Bins End the Smorgasbord?

A resident walks through the courtyard of the Knickerbocker Village housing development in the Lower East Side neighborhood of New York City, US, November 22, 2024. (Reuters)
A resident walks through the courtyard of the Knickerbocker Village housing development in the Lower East Side neighborhood of New York City, US, November 22, 2024. (Reuters)
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Rats Feast on New York’s City’s Bagged Garbage. Can Putting It in Bins End the Smorgasbord?

A resident walks through the courtyard of the Knickerbocker Village housing development in the Lower East Side neighborhood of New York City, US, November 22, 2024. (Reuters)
A resident walks through the courtyard of the Knickerbocker Village housing development in the Lower East Side neighborhood of New York City, US, November 22, 2024. (Reuters)

For half a century, New York City residents have taken out their trash by flinging plastic bags stuffed with stinking garbage straight onto the sidewalk.

When the bags inevitably leak or break open, they spill litter into the street, providing smorgasbords for rats. In the winter, the trash mounds get buried in snow and remain frozen in place for days, sometimes weeks, reinforcing the city’s reputation as filthy.

Now, New Yorkers are slowly adjusting to a radically new routine, at least for America's biggest city: Putting their trash in bins. With lids.

Earlier this month, covered bins became a requirement for all residential buildings with fewer than 10 living units. That’s the majority of residential properties. All city businesses had to start using bins earlier this year.

“I know this must sound absurd to anyone listening to this who lives pretty much in any other city in the world,” said Jessica Tisch, the city’s former sanitation commissioner, who oversaw the new measures before becoming the city's new police commissioner this week. “But it is revolutionary by New York City’s standards because, for 50 years, we have placed all our trash directly on the curbs.”

Residents who've already experienced trash containerization elsewhere agree it's long overdue for New York City to catch up.

“You see plastic bags open with the food just rotting and stinking and then it leaking out over the sidewalk and into the road,” said John Midgley, who owns a brownstone in Brooklyn and has lived in London, Paris and Amsterdam. “Just the stink of it builds up, you know, week after week after week.”

New York City's homes, businesses and institutions put about 44 million pounds (20 million kilograms) of waste out on the curb every day, about 24 million pounds (11 million kilograms) of which is collected by the city's sanitation department. Much of the rest is handled by private garbage carters.

In the early 20th century, New York City required trash to be placed in metal cans. But in the era before widespread plastic bag use, refuse was thrown directly into the bins, making them filthy and grimy.

Then in 1968, the city’s sanitation workers went on strike. For more than a week, trash cans overflowed. Garbage mounds piled high on sidewalks and spilled into the streets like some dystopian nightmare.

Plastic bag makers donated thousands of bags to help clean up the mess, and New Yorkers never looked back, said Steven Cohen, a Columbia University dean specializing in public affairs.

“It had to do with convenience,” he said. “After the strike, the sanitation workers preferred the modern advance of lighter and seemingly cleaner sealed plastic bags.”

Plastic kept more odors in, compared to the old metal bins. A worker could grab the neck of a bag and easily fling it into a truck.

But Democratic Mayor Eric Adams’ administration has deemed trash bag mounds Public Enemy No. 1 in his well-documented war against the city's notorious rats.

Rats have little problem getting into a plastic bag. Durable bins with closing, locking lids should, in theory, do a better job of keeping them out.

The bin requirement, which took effect Nov. 12, comes with its own challenges. Among them: Finding a place for large, wheeled bins in neighborhoods where most buildings don't have yards, alleys or garages. Landlords and homeowners also have to collect the empty bins and bring them back from the curb in the morning — something you didn't have to do with plastic bags.

Caitlin Leffel, who lives in Manhattan, said residents of her building had to hire someone “at surprisingly high cost” to bring out the bins the night before and bring them back in three times a week.

“I know there are problems with the way this city has collected trash for years,” she said. “But the way this program has been rolled out, it has not taken into account many of the nuances of living in New York City.”

Building superintendents are also grumbling about the added work of bringing bins back from the curb.

“It’s completely rearranged our lives,” says Dominick Romeo, founder of NYC Building Supers, a group of building managers that recently rallied in front of City Hall against the new requirements. “Folks are running around like crazy.”

Eventually, the largest residential buildings — those with more than 31 units — will have their own designated container on the street. New trash trucks built with automated, side-loading arms — another innovation that is already common in many other countries — will then clear them out.

The upgrades should make pickups easier and cleaner, even if it might take longer for trash collectors to make the rounds, says Harry Nespoli, president of the union representing some 7,000 city sanitation workers.

For now, he says, workers are still tossing trash into their trucks manually, which has its own downsides.

“Some places, they’re not even using bags. They're just putting their trash into the bins,” Nespoli said. “It's going to take time to get everyone to do it the right way, but at the end of the day, it's our job to pick it up.”

Tisch believes New Yorkers will eventually come around to the new reality.

City officials, for now, are issuing written warnings for non-compliance. Not everyone knows about the new rules yet. But come Jan. 2, fines ranging from $50 to $200 will kick in.

“No one wants to live on a dirty block,” Tisch said. “No one wants to walk past a heaping mound of trash and trash juice when they are leaving to go to work or they are walking their kids home from school.”