The sanitation issues in Nagariel have long constrained certain industries here, such as tourism.
Do not underestimate the tourism industry; in fact, tourism contributes far more to the economy of these underdeveloped regions than the industrial economy here, which is almost nonexistent. In many similar countries, the tourism economy becomes the pillar industry of those small nations.
Building an industrial chain that aligns with the local environmental conditions around tourism is much simpler than developing industry.
Nagariel also has rich tourism resources. Not to mention the long premium coastlines and countless beaches, going inland, whether it’s the vast grasslands or the dense original forests, they are both magnificent landscapes.
Moreover, activities like hunting can contribute a lot of profits here every year.
But why has Nagariel’s tourism industry developed so slowly until now?
Ultimately, it’s just too dirty.
Tourists experiencing the primitive ecological environment is an enjoyment, but living in a filthy area is torture. The two may seem similar, but they feel completely different.
Additionally, in the city, the piled-up mountains of garbage desperately need clearing. With the push from Lynch and other Federation merchants, the City Hall held this unprecedented meeting not serving the ruling class—for nominal reasons, cleaning the city’s garbage and maintaining hygiene is for the city’s citizens.
Therefore, those invited to attend this meeting were mostly locally respected individuals, making the atmosphere of this meeting very special.
Nagariel is a clan-ruled society, each major clan leader is the Provincial Governor of each province, and then there are various random relatives serving as the heads of various government departments in different regions.
This has also led to "clans" existing among the common people. People living in a village or on a street have evolved into a kind of public clan environment under this larger societal atmosphere, where those who can play a decisive role in these public clans are those who are highly respected.
"...The sanitation issues make our people more susceptible to illness, I have a document stating that from the first day of this year until now, we have...," the mayor glanced down at the report in his hand and paused for a moment.
"...over twenty-four thousand people have died from diseases caused by sanitation issues!"
Even he was surprised, and some reporters were also surprised. This kind of thing feels a bit incredible to everyone. From their perspective, over twenty-four thousand people dying in a year, averaging about two thousand or more a month, means at least sixty to seventy people are dying every day.
Yet they haven’t noticed constant deaths; in fact, they haven’t observed anyone dying throughout the whole year.
This is actually the most typical survivor bias, or even considered a kind of cognitive barrier.
Not knowing does not mean it hasn’t happened; many people die in poorly equipped hospitals. But not everyone goes to the hospital every day to watch if someone has died.
Some people die at home, and their families bury them in secret to avoid being pointed out by others—in Nagariel’s traditional culture, people who fall sick are basically seen as bad people, or that they were bad people in their previous lives.
So when someone falls ill and dies at home, the family generally buries them quietly and goes about their business secretly.
In fact, the real number of deaths is even higher than this, with the number of deaths in the slums outside the city already exceeding this figure each year. People can’t be bothered to report it upward.
Whenever lethal infectious diseases occur in the slums, the City Hall sends people to drive away those living on the city’s outskirts. They are expelled into the wild, where life is even more dangerous, so if someone dies in the slums, everyone just silently and secretly burns or buries the bodies without publicizing these matters.
Survivors’ cognitive bias leads people here to view the occurrences they witness personally or around them as the world’s trajectory, so they are shocked and astonished.
Looking at the ordinary people attending the meeting, the mayor suddenly felt that Mr. Lynch’s push for this proposal might not have been for selfish reasons, and his expression became more solemn.
"Many people die from sanitation problems every year, who shouldn’t have died. We, the living, caused these issues, so from today onwards, I need you all to pay attention to your personal hygiene and the sanitation around your living areas." ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ 𝓷𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓵•𝑓𝑖𝑟𝑒•𝙣𝙚𝙩
The invited attendees weren’t very mindful while discussing these issues. After a brief shock, they accepted this fact, and in local terms, the deaths due to illness were actually seen as atonement for sins from their past lives, thus their current lifespan was supposed to be short, leading to early deaths.
Since this is a punishment from the gods, it has nothing to do with themselves, and everyone believes that in their past life, even if they weren’t a good person, they were at least ordinary, feeling confident they can live safely through this life.
This attitude is also the main reason for Nagariel’s dirtiness and disorder. Everyone feels that most things happening in this society have nothing to do with them, so why would they make any changes?
Whether for this country or for themselves.
The mayor frowned slightly at this negative attitude, pulling at his hem, adjusting his waist.
The old habits from serving as Police Station Director are starting to change slightly now. Only when he’s angry and upset does he pull his own hem, an unconscious behavior.
He turned "showing people my best side" into "maintaining composure even when angry," reflecting his psychological journey of just over a month.
"This is not a request, it’s a demand!" his face showed more disdain, a smile lacking warmth, "The city is a city for all of us, not someone’s personal city."
"Starting from January 1st of next year, I will arrange for patrols. Anywhere found not up to standard, you street-level responsible people and those who have left garbage untreated will be expelled from this city, from Mengwu Province!"
This statement was genuinely shocking. Being expelled for failing to manage sanitation issues was far too severe, right?
Some stood up shouting loudly, seemingly condemning this as tyranny, saying only a tyrant would do such things.
Others claimed they were entirely unable to do this. Who knows who’ll throw trash or who won’t? If others throw trash on their side, does it count as their garbage?
Civil brawls in Nagariel are rampant and hard to prevent. Without a better plan from the mayor, such a barbaric rule could likely lead to continuous civil conflicts throughout the city, which is something no one wishes to see.
Fortunately, at this moment, the mayor shouted "An Jing" loudly, though it wasn’t very effective. After shouting several more times, his voice was drowned by everyone talking over each other until he grabbed a handy nightstick from the waist of his bodyguard and slammed it hard on the table, creating a massive sound which finally curbed people’s desire to voice their opinions.
He gazed sternly at these people, placing the nightstick on the table, adjusting his clothes and collar, "I invited you here as a gesture of respect; continue , and next time something similar happens, even if I bring a dog, you won’t be informed!"
Saying this, he let his stern gaze sweep over their faces, seemingly warning them, "I remember what you look like."
"Mr. Mayor, you can’t blame us; your request is too unreasonable for us to meet," someone interjected, and others nodded in agreement quietly.
The mayor frowned slightly, "So I haven’t finished speaking yet..."
He paused briefly, "Mr. Lynch and some Federation merchants who have invested locally, hearing I plan to improve the city’s sanitation, also concerned about the current insufficient electricity generation in the city, decided to merge these two issues into one."
"They would purchase burnable dry waste in the city at a price of one Nagariel pound per pound. Note, these should be dry waste, the kind that won’t drip when lifted with nets. This waste will be used for electricity generation..."
Looking at the "restless" crowd, Lynch did not smile much. Such tactics to him weren’t worth praising but were merely the simplest means of leveraging interests to lure people down the path he had set.
The electricity here is insufficient, with places near city edges and where ordinary people live regularly undergoing a certain hour of power cuts each day. The limited factory zones also experience power cuts when there aren’t many production tasks.
Upcoming major developments will need abundant electricity; some of the high-end manufacturing equipment from the Federation requires electricity, and new power plants are also part of Lynch’s plans.
The geographical environment here makes hydropower almost impossible—a lack of significant altitude differences in plain areas complicates forming high water flow speeds, even if rivers and lakes wide enough are nearby. Thus, thermal power generation becomes the go-to consideration.
Simultaneously, it also efficiently resolves the urban garbage issue, with the heat generated from burning garbage able to replace part of the fuel, serving as a cheap combustion material.
However, hiring people to do this evidently isn’t cost-effective for Lynch.
Lynch has generally understood the innate shortcomings of Nagariel people. If not monitored, their jobs in collecting garbage all over the city may turn into lounging in a sunny spot all day, then casually picking some garbage to deal with later at night, collecting a day’s pay.
Low efficiency, yet having to pay wages, that’s not Lynch’s ideal choice, so he slightly changed the approach.
Now, offering just one Nagariel pound for one pound of dry garbage can thoroughly motivate people’s enthusiasm; not just adult men, but also women and children would join in.
For Nagariel’s bright future, let’s work together!