The problems in the Green Party-led district of Lyon have persisted for years, with vermin infestations, rubbish accumulating on the streets and some homes lacking drinkable tap water for years now. Residents complain that the city's leaders are inactive and have failed to address their requests.

The lack of public security and worsening hygiene have become a major issue in Lyon, and the La Guillotiere neighbourhood, notorious for its drug addicts, is just one of the problematic districts. This area has been completely taken over by drug dealers, and crime and violence are a daily occurrence. Three weeks ago, three civilian police officers were nearly lynched on the open street while trying to stop a robbery.

Incroyables images : des policiers en civil en pleine interpellation échappent de peu au lynchage collectif place de La Guillotiere á #Lyon.

Le @prefetrhone, la mairie @villedelyon et @GDarmanin ne contrôlent plus rien et les policiers sont envoyés au massacre ! pic.twitter.com/df3hNN3xoG

— Damien Rieu (@DamienRieu) July 21, 2022

A district called Quartier des Etats-Unis has also gone downhill and it is likely to suffer the same fate as La Guillotiere, Actu.fr reported. The area has had problems for years: there are huge piles of rubbish in the streets, the public space is unkempt and vermin, mostly rats and cockroaches, are a growing problem. According to locals, the district is looking more and more like a huge landfill.

The district’s advocacy committee has been trying to find a solution for two years, but the deputy mayor in charge of public hygiene has not responded to any of their requests. The amount of rubbish accumulating on the streets is further compounded by illegal street vendors, who often just leave their unsold goods and items behind.

Another problem is the extremely poor state of housing estates. Some homes, where rusty, brownish juice is coming out of the taps, have been without clean running water for years, according to rue89lyon.fr. These hygiene problems are further exacerbated by the fact that drugs and crime have also reared their head.

Actu.fr contacted the district mayor, but Hubert Becart, a Green Party delegate, has so far refused to comment to the press. However, on social media, he answered questions from some residents: regarding illegal vendors, he said that they are working to dismantle the market and that they have already hired a staff member to coordinate the tasks in order to keep public spaces clean and supervise them.

A recent report by the interior ministry revealed that Lyon is the third most dangerous city in France after Paris and Marseille, but it is not the only Green Party-led municipality where garbage piling up on the streets is a serious problem, CNews wrote a few weeks ago. As V4NA reported earlier, in some parts of Bordeaux the waste disposal companies have not collected or removed the rubbish for months now, after their workers had received death threats by an armed man.