Councillor demands answers to questions over excessive litter

Many fans took the opportunity to watch the recent ice-hockey games between the local EVZ team and SC Bern over the Easter period on large TV screens on Arenaplatz. Naturally there was much excitement, and disappointment, EVZ losing in the final match to Bern. Neither is it is unusual for litter to be left behind after such occasions.
 
However, Astrid Estermann, a councillor of the Alternative party, considered the problem to be so bad on this occasion that she has tabled a number of questions to be answered by the core city council.
 
She said the problem was particularly bad on the evening of Maundy Thursday with plastic cups, bottles and other rubbish just left lying all over Arenaplatz by the Bossard Stadium. “It looked as if a litter bomb had gone off there,” she said, “There was broken glass and cardboard boxes everywhere,” she complained.
 
Hence she wanted to know, for example, what policy the council had with regard to problems relating to litter on days of major events such as the recent public viewing facility, what the precise policy was last Maundy Thursday in particular and to what extent the organisers were responsible for clearing it up or paying for it to be cleared up.
 
“I hope we never have to experience such a mess again and I would like to know what the core city council will do to assure this is the case,” she said, adding that she also wanted to know what the cost was of sending out workers to clear it all up on Good Friday in particular.
 
In an initial response to the points she raised, Urs Raschle of the core city council said that the clearing up of litter on this occasion was very well organised, just as it was after all matches. He pointed out that employees of EVZ continually cleared tables, even while the public viewing was in progress, and added that the ice-hockey club itself organised the clearing-up of the area below the projecting roof and parts of Arenaplatz, the remaining litter cleared up by city maintenance staff. “The costs involved are charged to EVZ in annual invoices accordingly,” he added.
 
The problem of litter in the city is not, of course, one which is just noticeable after major events. It is particularly bad in certain areas by the lake shore in spring and summer, as Raschle himself acknowledged. He said he hoped it would be alleviated in part by changes in the way food and drinks were bought, with the possibility of the city setting up a summer bar in a similar way to how they have been set up in Zurich and Lucerne, though not before the summer of 2018.
 
Furthermore, it was planned to tackle the problem by explaining to potential offenders, often young people, what the consequences of leaving litter were.