Rehman Ghafoor, who owns family-run business Smokin Ideas on Gallowgate, says there have been issues with bin collections at the building since summer last year.
The family also own five properties located above the shop, one of which operates as an Airbnb, in the building which has a mural of Billy Connolly on the side called ‘The Big Yin’.
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Rehman Ghafoor(Image: GordonTerris/Herald&Times)
Rehman told the Glasgow Times: “There’s been problems since June last year where the bin men have been coming and not taking the mess away.
“We’ve got issues with the green and blue bins.
“I’ve been onto Glasgow City Council, I’ve phoned and emailed, they come, then they don’t come and it just goes back to normal.
“The bins are overflowing, the cardboard has been blown about, and it’s blocked the gutters, there’s mice and rats, I’ve seen cockroaches and it smells horrible.
“It’s a health hazard.”
(Image: GordonTerris/Herald&Times)
Rehman says he has contacted the council several times since June last year but feels it has made no difference.
The 33-year-old said: “I’ve phoned so many times, I’ve complained to them, I’ve talked nicely, I’ve talked more aggressively, and then I even had someone from Glasgow City Council says she’ll come out but its’ been two weeks and she’s not bothered.
“It’s been going on for too long.
“The bins are a joke, they can’t be a***d.
“I’ve never experienced anything like this before, and we’ve had those properties for ages.
“The green bins are supposed to come every week or six days, but they’ve not took the green bins for about two weeks so now they’re overflowing.”
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(Image: GordonTerris/Herald&Times)
A spokesperson for the council says the issue was due to having the incorrect code for the close door after it was recently changed, however Rehman says he had given the council the code as well as his phone number to get in touch if there were issues.
The council says the service will be fully restored.
Rehman, whose family clean the close and maintain the buillding, says the issue has been made worse by the fact there are not enough blue bins for the number of flats, and that on occasion they have been left due to becomimg contaminated with other waste.
He explained: “There’s only three blue bins when there should be six because there are nine flats.
“There used to be six, but they took three away. I thought they took them away because they were going to replace them because they had a broken lid or handle.”
He continued: “I’ve got [the bin men] on recording saying ‘we’re not taking the bins because they’re contaminated’ and I’m like ‘it’s going to get contaminated because you’ve not come for a month’.
“I reported the blue bins last week and they eventually came [on Thursday] but they were overflowing because they hadn’t been picked up for two months.
“What they’ve done is they’ve taken the stuff from the top of the bins and just thrown them at the side, so rubbish is still lying there.”
(Image: GordonTerris/Herald&Times)
A Glasgow City Council spokesperson: “We are sorry for the difficulties with refuse collections that residents at this address have experienced recently.
“We were unable to access the back court for a period of time due to having incorrect code for the close door.
“The issue has now been rectified and with all bins now been emptied, we will work with residents to ensure the service is fully restored.”