The year 2014 will undoubtedly have been one of the darkest in the history of the fishing village of N'Teirift. Located about sixty kilometres north of Dakhla, N'Teirift suffered a fire on 27 March that ravaged more than 300 shacks. Today, the some 3,000 inhabitants of this fishing village are suffocating. Who can imagine a village of more than 3,000 souls without hygiene services and without rubbish collection for more than 5 months? The last time a semblance of rubbish collection was seen in this village was two days after the tragedy last March. In reality, the collection had concerned what the flames had spared, rather than the rubbish scattered here and there in the various alleys bordering what remained of the burnt-out huts. Some justify the absence of collection by the expiration of the contract with a cleaning company. The new delegated company is currently completing the numerous administrative formalities before resuming work. But in the meantime, the inhabitants are subjected to the foul odours given off by the piles of rubbish and other fish remains that plague the village and its surroundings. Ali, a resident of the village, indicated to us that in the absence of any measure aimed at solving this problem on the part of the caid and local elected officials, the inhabitants have appealed to the wilaya, from which they await help. They, who pay significant taxes on the proceeds of their catches, do not understand, adds Ali, that the authorities who collect these taxes do nothing to fulfil the task of rubbish collection to preserve the health of the inhabitants.