MAKKAH — The Makkah Mayoralty will sign contracts with five cleaning companies when its agreement with its current contractor expires, the local authority said. Muhammad Al-Mourqi, the mayoralty's director of cleaning, admitted some of the cleaners engage in jobs outside of work. Supervisors discovered that a majority of cleaning workers collect scrap iron, cardboard and cans instead of concentrating on their job. He said his department uses tracking equipment to monitor trucks and machinery used in the mayoralty's preventive health project. It also uses special equipment to detect stagnant water pools in neighborhoods that serve as a breeding ground for mosquitoes and rodents. The mayoralty has made all necessary arrangements to contract five cleaning companies to improve the standard of cleanliness in the holy city, Al-Mourqi said. He said a study conducted by his department recommended the city be divided into five zones, with one company responsible for cleaning each zone. He said this system will enable the mayoralty's field supervisors to properly oversee the workers of each company. Under the zones system, the Aziziah and Al-Shawkyia municipalities will be looked after by one contractor, he said. This system will be applied to the rest of the municipality branches. The number of the cleaners will be increased from 6,500 to 17,500 cleaners. The current cleaning company failed to achieve its Saudization targets, leading cleaners to go on strike late last month, he said, adding the contractor then had a problem renewing residency permits (iqamas) for the workers. Thousands of tons of garbage accumulated in the streets of the holy city in a matter of hours following the work stoppage and recent rains worsened the already unsanitary state of the streets, demanding quick intervention by the city authorities. Al-Mourqi said the workers returned to work after the company managed to solve the problem. It has already renewed the iqamas of 2,500 workers, while the rest are being processed. The cleaning company has a workforce of more than 6,000 workers. These workers, mostly from South Asia, work on a meager monthly wage of a little more than SR250. That, coupled with delays in payment and other genuine grievances, led to the workers going on strike. Al-Mourqi said hotels and furnished apartments that are lax in collecting and disposing of garbage will not be given a permit unless they produce a contract signed with a cleaning company. The official said the mayoralty is set to launch an awareness campaign in the next few days that aims to raise awareness among students about public health principles and cleanliness. The basic objective of the campaign is to promote among students the virtues of cleanliness.
