The Ministry of Haj has directed Haj service providers and firms to remove all garbage at the holy sites, and hand over the camps and the land surrounding them clean and tidy.

The ministry said noncompliance will result in a fine of SR1,000 for each ton of waste left.

The Makkah Municipality said the total amount of waste and garbage collected from the three holy sites, Mina, Arafat and Muzdalifah, came to 53,000 tons, in addition to another 6,000 tons of waste from various parts of the holy city.

Some 6,000 cleaning workers were allocated to clean the holy sites in the third phase of the cleaning campaign. A program to kill insects in the city was also launched.

Osama Al-Zaytouni, spokesman for the Makkah Municipality, said the operations to clean the holy sites are carried out in three phases. “The first phase is the cleaning of roads around the clock, where garbage is stored in 1,000 containers for safe and healthy disposal later,” he explained.

The second phase involves cleaning Arafat and Muzdalifah once pilgrims left the two holy sites. “The process involved emptying 131 containers which were in use during the Tashreeq days (Oct. 16-18) into underground reservoirs and 1,025 electric pressing boxes,” he said.

He pointed out that the total quantity of the garbage and waste within the containers amounted to 10,000 tons.

“The third phase started on Oct. 18 with the cleaning of roads and certain sites and emptying the garbage containers,” he said.

The Makkah Municipality established central task forces. Each of these included 100 workers equipped with various pieces of equipment for further support, in addition to teams equipped with pumps, suction devices and water tanks to deal with the unexpected heavy rains.