Plastic Price Far from Reality

André Cebola, fictitious name, 32 years old, born in the province of Zambézia, a garbage collector for nine (9) months, I came to Maputo on a service mission, at the time I was driving a truck and leaving motorbikes in different places, but then I didn't come back, I was left with nothing to survive and ended up on the street.

When the agreement was signed in Zambézia, I was supposed to stay in Maputo for at least a week. I have a professional driving license. They gave me a week to return and pick up the car and go back there. But when I got here, everything got complicated. I left the truck and stayed here scattered on the street.

With the challenges that life presented me, I ended up entering the world of drugs, I sold everything I had, I ran out of money that was supposed to finance my return and I stayed on land.

Nowadays I have lost my dignity, I live on the streets like a nobody's boy, garbage has been my source of income. It's plastic, glass and so many other recyclable materials.

I gather some bottles and cans so I can weigh them and pay for my daily expenses. Otherwise, I would mess with the owner's things, get beaten up, that kind of thing. I've been doing this kind of work for about eight or nine months now.

Living on the street and working in the dumpster undermines your life, because everything is thrown into the dump and everything together, we are exposed to all of this, no one defends us as beggars, notice that the police authorities when they understandThey come here every night to mistreat us without having done anything wrong if we don't live on the street, in some cases we have been victims of photographic records and we are not aware of the purpose.

If I can get the transport costs, I would rather go home and suffer in front of my family than on the streets. I can barely save anything from the sales I have made, so earning money to return to the land where I was born is nothing more than a mirage.

I would like to urge housewives to put their food in plastic and to indicate at home that it is poisoned food, otherwise it could endanger the lives of garbage collectors. It seems that men, women and children eat in containers, so your good Samaritan gesture can minimize the risk to this segment of society.

Organizations that ensure the recycling of solid waste should commit to improving the price of garbage, eight (8.00) meticais for one kg of plastic is far from the cost of living in Mozambique.