27 Tonnes Of Waste Generated By New Year’s Eve Revellers

New Year revellers generated more than 27 tonnes of waste at different celebrations sites in Dubai that kept cleaners doubly busy on the last day of 2016 and on the first day of the year.

The Waste Management Department of Dubai Municipality collected 27 tonnes of waste from the New Year celebration sites in Dubai, including the Burj Khalifa and Downtown Dubai area, Business Bay area, Jumeirah Beach until Dubai Marina and the Dubai Water Canal, in addition to Jumeirah Road.

The total waste collected in these areas was up by seven tonnes this year compared to the 20 tonnes of waste collected last year on the same occasion since there are more official celebration sites this year. On average, a UAE resident generates up to 2.5kg of waste per day.

Eng Abdul Majeed Saifaie, director of Waste Management Department, said that the waste removal process was completed as per a comprehensive plan drawn up by the department.

“Dubai Municipality had set up an integrated working team consisting of more than 800 cleaners and 35 supervisors to undertake the clean-up activities at the new year celebration sites. Cooperation was also sought from the private sector companies to provide volunteers to help our cleaners in the clean-up operations,” he said.

The New Year celebration this year was marked by an unprecedented crowd of about two million people, which necessitated doubling of field efforts. The cleaning process started at 5pm on December 31 and lasted until 8am of January 1, during which workers collected more than 10,150 bags of waste,” said Saifaie.

A special team of 28 cleaners and three supervisors also conducted additional clean-up activities on main roads such as Shaikh Zayed Road, Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Road, Al Khail Road and Emirates Road.

The civic body used four sand sweepers and safety vehicles and three vehicles for rapid intervention in these areas. Some 106 additional waste containers of different sizes were distributed in the most congested areas.

Sifai said the department had published awareness advertisements through local newspapers and the municipality’s social networking sites, calling on revellers to comply with the hygiene rules before the celebration.

source : gulfnews