Paris mayor creates 10 measures to clean up the city

Anne Hidalgo, the socialist mayor of Paris, has revealed a 10-point plan to improve the cleanliness of the French capital, including €1.5million to rid the city of rats.

Among the other measures planned are a big increase in the number of ashtrays to be made available outside large retailers and office buildings plus the creation of 100 jobs in the city’s cleaning division – bringing the total number of rubbish collectors, sweepers and drivers to 7,000.

Prevention and intervention of ‘uncivil behaviour’ is another priority, said Hidalgo in an interview with newspaper Journal de Dimanche yesterday. The capital’s ‘anti-civility brigade’, which already has 1,800 staff, will increase by nearly 50% by summer 2018, said Hidalgo.

"We are already spending €500million a year on cleanliness and waste management. But it is clear that Paris is not yet perfectly clean.

"I want to accelerate, amplify efforts. This is an absolute priority," she added, saying that all the measures will be presented at the next Paris council on March 27, 28 and 29.

Faced with the return of rats in the capital, especially in parks and gardens, the town hall intends to spend € 1.5mn on traps and laying them around the city’s 3,000 rubbish bins.

Meanwhile, investigators from the Cleaning, Security and Protection Branch (DPSP) will be allowed to "give themselves time to identify offenders, issue tickets and charge them the cleaning fee".

Finally, large retailers and office buildings will have to "fit ashtrays at staff doors", as will all cafes "under penalty of having their terrace permit removed".

An Ifop poll on Anne Hidalgo's effectiveness in April last year showed that only 39% of Parisians were satisfied with the capital’s cleanliness (against 43% in 2015).

Paris, with a population of some 2.2m, is the world's number one tourist destination, although visitor figures in 2016 dropped by 6%.