Watch: Massive clean-up plans in Dubai after New Year celebrations

Dubai: Hundreds of municipal workers and civic volunteers will be pressed into service to ensure Dubai is all clean and tidy soon after the New Year celebrations, it was revealed on Wednesday.

Dubai Municipality has announced that it has organised a plan for cleaning areas where New Year celebrations will be held.

A team of workers and volunteers has already been formed and the municipality has also partnered with the private sector responsible for celebration areas, to finish cleaning operations in the night itself, the civic body said.

As many as 500 cleaners and 250 volunteers from various sectors will take part in the cleaning operations.

The busiest areas in town will be supplied with an additional 216 waste containers to ensure the revellers have enough facilities to trash the litter.

Several sand sweepers will also be used to clean the main roads.

Dubai has a history of tidying up the city immediately after the massive New Year celebrations in the main areas after hundreds of thousands of revellers return home following the fireworks and New Year bash.

The civic body has made arrangements to continue with the overnight drive during the New Year celebrations even amidst the COVID-19 pandemic as well.

As many as 46 employees from the supervisory authority have been allocated to oversee the operations, according to Khaled Mohsen, acting director of Waste Management Department.

In a press release, he said the integrated plan will cover cleaning operations and the removal of waste resulting from the New Year celebrations, as the Burj Khalifa area in Downtown Dubai, public beaches and a number of other sites in Dubai have become the focus of world attention.

“Apart from the Burj Khalifa area and public beaches, a number of other sites such as Rigga Street, Muraqqabat Street, Al Qudra Lakes, Love Lake, Jumeirah Street, Jaddaf area, and Dubai Water Canal that are expected to witness a large number of visitors will be covered by the team, as the large turnout of public will leave huge quantities of waste,” said Mohsen.

“We are working to implement the integrated plan for cleaning activities in all areas of the celebration in a tight manner in order to complete the cleaning operations in record time on the same night of the celebration.”

“Within the framework of the continuous cooperation and coordination with the Municipality’s strategic partners and private sector entities, cooperation has been made with the Burj Khalifa administration and the private sector [entities] responsible for a number of main celebration areas to participate in the cleaning work,” he added.