2 Tons of Trash Collected from Alley in Front of Vacant House in Mapo-gu...Public-Private Cooperation Shines

Long-term Neglect of Alley in Front of Vacant House Leads to 2-Ton Trash Dump... On 17th, Yonggang-dong Residents Join Direct Cleanup
District Chief Park Gang-su: "Resident Communication and Cooperation Based on Grassroots Administration, Foundation for a Better Mapo"

At the end of the alley on Daeheung-ro in Yonggang-dong, Mapo-gu, there is a vacant house that has been uninhabited for 10 years. In the alley in front of the vacant house, which has not been touched by human hands, only household waste discarded by someone to avoid crackdown has piled up.

The land where the trash was left unattended is private property, but there are multiple owners, and it has been neglected for a long time without any residents, resulting in frequent illegal dumping and poor facility management.

In response, Mapo-gu (Mayor Park Gang-su) Yonggang-dong took direct action to solve the problem together with residents.

At the end of March, a countermeasure meeting was held with the head of Yonggang-dong as the main figure, along with the resident autonomy committee and the Saemaeul leaders' council members. On the 17th, 15 people including Yonggang-dong staff, Saemaeul leaders' council members, and Mapo-gu environmental security officers went to the site to collect the abandoned waste and clean up the environment.

The household waste collected that day amounted to about 2 tons. In addition, the Saemaeul leaders' association put effort into pest control and disinfection to prevent hygiene pests caused by the abandoned waste.

Resident Lee Kyung-cheon (51 years old), who participated in the collection, said, “Although it was physically hard, it was truly rewarding with the thought of making a better village, and the fatigue disappeared completely thanks to the thanks from the residents.” He added, “I will participate anytime if there is work for the village in the future.”

Nearby residents also expressed joy, saying, “It feels like the frustration has been relieved,” and “I am really grateful to the hardworking dong staff and residents.”

Choi Eun-young, head of Yonggang-dong, said, “Although it is privately owned, we took action thinking that neglect could harm nearby residents as well,” and added, “We will carefully monitor every corner so that Yonggang-dong can be managed cleanly and safely and become known as a good place to live.”

The dong office additionally requested related departments to inspect security lights and sewer manholes, and plans to further strengthen environmental patrols and crack down on illegal dumping in the future.

Since the 15th, Mapo-gu has been operating a ‘Big Cleaning Day’ at the dong community centers, with all 16 dongs participating in the ‘Making Clean Mapo’ campaign.

The big cleaning involves not only public officials but also about 1,000 residents including the resident autonomy committees, neighborhood leaders’ councils, volunteer camps, and the Barugesalgi committees of each dong.

Park Gang-su, Mayor of Mapo-gu, said, “The cooperation between the dong community centers and residents, which is closely connected like fine roots, is the most important for improving residents’ quality of life and the environment,” and added, “Mapo-gu will do its best to create a livable Mapo together with residents based on an administrative foundation for true resident autonomy.”