City 'doesn't have the bottle' to sort dispute

Published on Friday 17 July 2009 10:31

CITY leaders have been told to get tough with the binmen to prevent a possible health hazard.

As rubbish continued to pile up, Councillor Ian Whyte, Conservative group leader, called for firm action to end the dispute. He said if a resolution cannot be agreed quickly, the council should look to bring in private contractors.

"It is simply not good enough to allow this situation to continue to escalate," he said.

"Rubbish is piling up without any sign of leadership or action to resolve the situation.

"The Edinburgh public are rightly losing patience and can't believe the only advice they are getting is to leave a foul smelling bin out on the street with no idea of when it will be collected.

"The growing fear is that the administration simply doesn't have the bottle and will allow the city to be held to ransom once again.

"The service should be run for the benefit of the council taxpayers and not the employees.

"If management can't solve the dispute it is high time they looked elsewhere."