The environmental health committee of the council made a surprise tour of Makkah streets to check the work of the cleaners only to find them neglecting their duties so as to collect garbage, which they sell to recycling companies to make extra income.
The committee submitted its remarks to the municipality, which said the cleaning company employing these workers was rated to be within the red category of the Labor Ministry’s Nitaqat program.
“As such, the company is unable to recruit any foreign manpower for the cleaning work,” it said.
Chairman of the environmental health committee Muneer Dahlawi said the committee would tour all districts in Makkah to evaluate the level of cleanliness. He said special forms would be distributed among residents to give their opinion about the level of cleanliness in the holy city and to make suggestions for improvement.
Assistant director of the cleaning department in the municipality Abdul Aziz Al-Abbasi said the contracted cleaning company had vacancies for Saudis in its Jeddah branch, but it could not force Saudis to work as cleaners.
He also noted the company did not quickly change its equipment that went out of order, and said workshops took weeks to repair even minor defects in garbage trucks.
