Sint-Jans Molenbeek (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – Team Fouad Ahidar (TFA), MR, and Les Engagés criticized Molenbeek’s service delays. Acting mayor Amet Gjanaj (PS) admitted issues but gave no solutions. The Civil Registry gets 100–150 emails daily and struggles with 1,200 residence permits. The city secretary resigned in May 2024, and cleaners struck in September 2024.
A special meeting was held in Molenbeek on Wednesday, March 12, 2025. The meeting was called by Team Fouad Ahidar (TFA), with support from the opposition parties MR and Les Engagés. They were concerned about the long delays in city services, especially at the Population and Civil Registry.
Councillor Hamza Zibouh (TFA) pointed out that people often wait weeks or even months for a response to their emails. He asked acting mayor Amet Gjanaj (PS) what the city was going to do about the backlog and if they would give more resources or hire more staff to improve service efficiency.
Gjanaj acknowledged that the long waiting times were a real problem for residents. However, he explained that the Population and Civil Registry gets between 100 and 150 emails every day, making it hard to keep up with the demand. He said that opening more counters to speed things up wasn’t possible because they didn’t have enough resources.
How will Molenbeek fix service delays and staff shortages?
Molenbeek is trying to hire more people to help process applications faster. They want to do this without spending more money. The acting mayor said that the wait times for services are similar to other big cities in Brussels. The mayor also explained why people can’t call the Civil Registry. The phone system hangs up on calls after 30 minutes, so individuals must call back and wait in line once more. Occasionally, individuals become frustrated and scream at the phone employees.
According to Molenbeek’s acting mayor, Amet Gjanaj, the phone system for the city will be back up soon, making it easier for residents to contact the city. He didn’t say when the system would be fixed, though.
The mayor also mentioned that the Immigration Service is very busy, with 1,200 temporary residence permits to be processed, including those for Ukrainian refugees. He said that this is making it hard to handle other applications, which is making people upset.
Molenbeek council member Hamza Zibouh was not happy with the mayor’s answers. He said that the mayor didn’t say how they were going to fix the problems with the city’s services. Zibouh said that the mayor just acknowledged the problems but didn’t say how they would fix them. People are worried that the city isn’t doing enough to fix the problems.
The city secretary quit in May 2024. She said the mayor and other leaders made decisions about staff without talking to her. This made her worried about how the city was being run and if things were transparent.
In September 2024, the people who clean the city went on strike. They said they had bad working conditions, not enough staff, and too much work. According to officials, these problems have made the city less efficient. They mentioned that the city needs to give more resources to its services, manage things better, and maybe even make new rules to make the city services work better.
