500 bikes for Sudanese charity blocked at Scottish port

[glasgowcyclist]

This does seem a rather petty decision to reject the shipment of bikes to Sudan.

The receiving charity was aware of the condition of the bikes and was happy to accept them.


https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c2e7yy3z3p8o

A man who tried to send 500 bikes to a charity in Africa had them refused at a Scottish port after they were classed as waste.​

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Nigel Carter, 64, had been gathering bicycles across Scotland to be shipped to Sudan, to help people who need access to cheap transport. ​

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The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) said the shipment could not leave the country as an inspector had deemed them unfit for purpose because some of them needed repairs.​

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The bikes were shipped back to Mr Carter in Comrie, Perthshire, which he said meant they risked being scrapped.​

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Mr Carter told BBC Scotland's Drivetime on Thursday that he had gathered the bikes from Scottish recycling centres to offer to Scottish charities - and those not taken were given to a charity in Sudan.​

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According to Mr Carter the repairs raised by Sepa were only minor and easily fixed, including oil on chains, rusted frames and broken brake cables.​

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He said that these repairs would be more cost effective if carried out in Sudan rather than in Scotland. ​

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The Sudanese charity receiving the bikes had picked them out and were happy with their condition, Mr Carter said. ​

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He added that the bikes were also approved by qualified bicycle mechanics. ​

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The bikes would have been used across Sudan for children to get to school or to help people run their businesses. ​

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He told the BBC it was costing the Sudanese charity for the shipping container to be sitting in "limbo" and puts them at risk of closing.​

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Mr Carter said the bikes will now most likely be scrapped or taken back to the recycling centre, where they were picked from​

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The current civil war in the north east African country means there is a lack of resources such as oil and fuel, so bikes have become more sought after. ​

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The bikes were shipped in a container to a Scottish port, where it was stopped for an inspection by environment officials. ​

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Gary Walker, a waste manager at Sepa, said some of the bikes needed repairs before they could be reused. ​

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The container was sent back to Mr Carter.​

 

[ianrauk]

A ridiculous state of affairs

 

[Emanresu]

There are a few of these charities about such as this one. (https://bicycles-for-humanity.org/) AFAIR they included enough to set up a workshop with every 40ft container they sent, so the container became the repair centre for the 'scrap' bikes. It was also very expensive for the charity to do as the tools plus shipping costs were quite high. There was also the counter argument that you could get new Chinese bikes for the same money.

Perhaps well intentioned but not checked out properly. There is a lot of information on these schemes about if you look for it.

 

[Drago]

Even if some require repairs that doesnt automatically make them waste.

Is this just petty officialdom, or is there more than is reported in the story?

 

[Regular.Cyclist]

Try donating medical equipment to third world countries.

It used to be the norm to send, say, a dozen ventilators some of which had faults. The recipient would often make say 8 working units from 12 sent and then have some additional parts left over to support the units that had made it into service. There are now very strict guidelines on what can be sent resulting in much less now going. If effect, if the guidelines were followed to the letter, the equipment would still have value and be in common use in Scottish hospitals.

 

[Profpointy]

Whilst sometimes these stories have a bit more to them as Drogo implies, but there is a parallel with donating tools to the poorer countries. Over the years, like many people, I've acquired or inherited lots of tools, including duplicates so in a downsize I gave them all to a mate who helps out with one of these charities. He told me not to bother fettling and sharpening as the charity pays a guy in-country to do that, so it actually gives work and income, as well as the benefit of the tools

I wonder if locally repairing such bikes, or making one good one out of three rough ones might have value too. It would be uneconomic to do it here with low value bikes

 

[Profpointy]

Off topic but bear with me, there is a tenuous link with following the letter of the rules. There is a cave where there's a committee to sort out cave access and so on on behalf of the landowner. Someone had donated a load of out of date lifejackets to be left in the cave to make a deep swimming section a bit safer. There was a bit of a worry about any liability from the out-of-dateness of the lifejackets which was quite comical given that amongst the various motley buoyancy aids was an inflatable dinosaur !

 

[Drago]

I would have to ask what does it matter?

Why is there no mechanism to waive thregulations If a receiving country and organisation are genuinely happy the receive such bikes and are happy to sign to that effect? If they're happy then why should anyone else be able to interfere?

 

[Profpointy]

I would have to ask what does it matter?

Why is there no mechanism to waive thregulations If a receiving country and organisation are genuinely happy the receive such bikes and are happy to sign to that effect? If they're happy then why should anyone else be able to interfere?

Presumably, and it is a presume rather than knowledge, the regs have been put in place to stop companies exporting stuff like toxic waste to a corruptly run poor country, supposedly for recycling or treatment, but it ends up in drums rusting or flytipped by the unscrupulous fixers who've taken on the stuff. In at least some countries, a corrupt official might well sign a suitable waiver for a fee.

Obviously this would be crazy to apply to bicycles which, at worst, are merely steel (or mixed metal) scrap, which actually has some value, rather than being toxic waste

 

[Drago]

That sprtmof makes sense, but who is the UK to decide who is corrupt, crooked or incompetent?

By that measure no-one would ever be allowed to export anything to the UK!

 

[Profpointy]

That sprtmof makes sense, but who is the UK to decide who is corrupt, crooked or incompetent?

By that measure no-one would ever be allowed to export anything to the UK!

And it would be iniquitous to stop legit recycling in poor countries either.

Maybe a sensible sliding scale - recycling organophosphates or organo-mercury toxins - super strict with all the elf-n-safety traceability you could imagine

Recycling some scrap metal or consumer goods, some token scrutiny if that

Granted this may be straying into the other place's remit.

 

[Drago]

Granted this may be straying into the other place's remit.

You're safe, Prof. Common sense and politics are two completely irreconcilable concepts.

 

[Profpointy]

You're safe, Prof. Common sense and politics are two completely irreconcilable concepts.

Thing is politics should be about making things work or making things better and maybe arguing about how this should be done, or even about which option is better.

Sadly that no longer seems the case

 

[The Crofted Crest]

Common sense and politics are two completely irreconcilable concepts.

That's quite a self-contradictory political statement, there, Drago.

 

[Drago]

That's quite a self-contradictory political statement, there, Drago.

Good spot. You'd be a good politician with those skills. Fabricate yourself a CV and I'll see what I can do for you.

But steering things from the verge of a forbidden territory and back to these bikes, surely it can't be beyond the wit of humankind to find a sensible solution? There have been one or two mentioned here. It's the crass and intractable "computer says no" attitude that rankles. The only people that lose out are the intended recipients.

It just seems willfully daft.