“This is about accountability. If they say it is done and it has not, then it is not good for public trust”
(Image: Kodirjonov Boburkhon)
Manchester council has issued a statement confirming it said staff cleaned up fly-tips, but actually left rubbish behind.
Bosses said the ‘ghost clearances’ occur ‘rarely’ after a student who regularly reports illegal dumps said he witnessed more than a dozen instances where the council did not take away all of the waste. Kodirjonov Boburkhon, who lives in Crumpsall, has called-in fly-tips on his walk from home to the city centre, where he works and studies, since September.
But Kodirjonov said around 15 of his 70 tip-offs were not properly cleaned up, so he had to ‘re-report’ it to the authority. He explained: “I report it through the Manchester council system, but the issue is I repeatedly receive an email from Manchester council saying the rubbish has been cleared or the issue has been resolved, but when I go past it has not gone.
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“So then I lodge a complaint or chase the council up. It’s only after that they come and clean it. I need to go to the council website and make a complaint and attach the evidence that the work has not been done.”
The 21-year-old has noticed a pattern of what gets cleaned up and what doesn’t. He went on: “When fly-tipping is small, they do their job. But if it’s a messy one, they do not do it. I report huge fly-tips… That’s when they do not do it.”
The MMU student added re-reporting is not only time-consuming, but also ‘frustrating’. He continued: “This is about accountability. If they say it is done and it has not, then it is not good for public trust.
(Image: Kodirjonov Boburkhon)
“I think it’s happened more than 15 times since I moved to Manchester in September last year. I have been reporting it at least three times per week. I feel angry and frustrated because I have spent my time reporting.”
A spokesperson for Manchester council has now confirmed ‘ghost clearances’ do take place on ‘rare’ occasions, and said Kodirjonov was doing the right thing by re-reporting it.
Their statement said: “We are aware of an instance of fly-tipping in Crumpsall where the bulk of the waste was removed but some litter remained nearby. This will be resolved as soon as possible. A sofa that was also dumped at this location has now been removed by our teams.
“On the rare occasion when fly-tips are reported and marked as “done” when in fact some waste remains, we ask that residents follow-up on the same report rather than initiating a new one. This is the quickest way for concerned residents to bring matters to us and for issues to be resolved.
“Fly-tipping is a disgusting, inexcusable crime that blights our communities. We appreciate anyone that comes forward with information and we encourage people to report any waste issues they find.”