Trucks bear load of guilt

Published: 11 March, 2011

• CONGRATULATIONS to Peter Gruner and the Tribune. It is now publicly established that councillors are legally entitled to exclude Veolia Environmental Services from contracts with local authorities (Lawyer’s call to reject Veolia waste tender, March 4). 

However, there is a political stake as well, which has been unmistakably presented in our local paper. If our councillors, as representatives on North London Waste Authority (NLWA) executive, fail to turn down Veolia as a bidder for waste management in Islington and the NLWA, they will be regarded as complicit in the “violation of international law” in Palestinian territories. 

This process is now in the public limelight and a matter of concern for all citizens in the respective boroughs. Given the continuing construction of Israeli settlements in the West Bank and discrimination against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, waste trucks bearing the Veolia sign, driving up and down the streets of London, will become a daily reminder of the Palestinian plight and a target of public anger. 

Veolia will become an example of transnational capital, indifferent to its impact on human rights. 

Conversely, councillors in charge of awarding contracts for public services to dubious private companies will have to justify themselves vis-à-vis their electorate.
Joern Janssen
Freegrove Road, N7