How Dubai plans to manage public hygiene services during Eid Al Fitr holidays
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Dubai: A 3,200-member team and more than 700 vehicles and machinery will help ensure cleanliness during the Eid Al Fitr holidays as the emirate expects to receive an influx of tourists and visitors.
These include 2,300 cleaners tasked to manage hygiene and community services related to sustainable waste management across Dubai during the holiday. Working in four shifts, they will be provided with all the necessary tools and equipment for the task.
Additionally, the Municipality has appointed 650 hygiene engineers from the private sector to whom hygiene-related tasks in tourist, industrial, and desert areas have been outsourced.
The teams will include approximately 250 supervisory staff to monitor hygiene tasks and complete the closure of emergency field communications.
Cleaning public beaches
To preserve the environmental and hygienic conditions of public beaches, Dubai Municipality has also assigned a field team of 84 members, including 12 supervisors and 72 cleaners.
They will work daily in three shifts to maintain the cleanliness of public beaches in Dubai and enhance their sustainability, while providing a unique experience for beachgoers, including citizens, residents, and visitors, during the Eid holiday.
Furthermore, the Municipality has deployed approximately 752 vehicles and machinery, including 311 heavy vehicles, 158 light vehicles, 176 rental vehicles, 77 heavy equipment attached to hygiene boats, and 30 light equipment, all of which will be available upon request.
Cleaning roads and highways
To keep major roads and highways clean during the first few days of Eid Al Fitr, Dubai Municipality has assigned a workforce made up of 57 cleaners and five supervisory and monitoring employees. The team will work in four shifts to cover a total of 2,300km of the main roads.
To effectively handle any emergency that may arise, the Municipality has also developed operational plans to promptly respond to reports and allocate the necessary human and logistical resources for the collection and transportation of waste along the way.
The group will also take on the task of cleaning accident sites on external roads and highways.
Dubai Municipality’s waste management teams have effectively carried out cleaning operations across all 10 Eid prayer areas in the emirate. Furthermore, they have placed supplementary garbage bins near mosques, event venues, crowded areas, along with 30 extra waste storage facilities that are widely distributed to cover emergency cases and crowded areas.
Working hours
The waste disposal and treatment facilities owned by Dubai Municipality, such as the Al Qusais landfill and Bayada dump site, will have set work hours on account of the cleaning operations for Eid Al Fitr holiday. These facilities are scheduled to be open around the clock throughout the holiday season.
Additionally, the medical waste incinerator at the Jebel Ali Hazardous Waste Treatment Facility will operate continuously with no disruptions during the Eid Al Fitr holidays.
As part of the initiative, Dubai Municipality will also keep an eye on the operations of private sector firms. All operations are set to be carried out by seven different companies, three of which are in charge of managing cleaning duties and waste segregation in public and residential areas.
Two of them will focus on promoting recycling and meeting circular economy requirements, while another firm is dedicated to transporting abandoned vehicles, along with one that specializes in the upkeep of public health facilities.
E-services
More importantly, Dubai Municipality has announced that it will now use its official website to provide a range of services and assistance to the public and customers.
These services include the ability to request permits for disposing of hazardous waste, commercial waste, and unwanted materials.
Individuals can submit requests to approve contracts with waste collection and transportation companies, as well as obtain no-objection certificates for infrastructure and construction projects. Another service available is the ability to request the provision of relocation of waste containers.
However, the Municipality said it will temporarily suspend its bulk waste disposal operation during the initial days of Eid Al-Fitr, after which it will resume normal operations.
