ABU DHABI // More than 1,400 cleaning staff took to the streets and parks on and around the Abu Dhabi Corniche as thousands of revellers left behind huge amounts of rubbish after National Day celebrations.
The unsung heroes kept cleaning throughout the night on Wednesday and Thursday morning.
On regular days there are about 100 cleaning staff working in the Corniche area but after the celebrations they had to draft in more than 1,000 – about 800 from Lavajet and 600 from Averda cleaning companies.
“I worked for 12 hours,” said Bangladeshi cleaner Mohammed Ali Ashhad. “I started at midnight on Wednesday and worked until noon yesterday.
“Generally I work on Muroor Road area but because of the huge generation of waste on National Day, I was deployed here. From Friday we return to our regular shifts.”
Cleaning staff fanned out along the Corniche and the Breakwater to remove rubbish from parks, walkways, streets and roads.
Another Bangladeshi cleaner, Aalameen, said a lot of food was dumped in communal areas by revellers.
“Anybody who turns up at the Corniche brings plenty of food and many leave that on the place where they sit,” he said.
“Only some people dump in the dustbins. Most of the waste was scattered in the park and sidewalks.”
Aalameen, who has worked here for four years, also started his shift at midnight on Wednesday.
Most of the 1,400 cleaners brought in to work the event were on 12-hour shifts, clearing away mostly spray bottles, plastic cups, cans, bottles, plastic bags and discarded food.
“About 800 cleaners are working, sweeping, dusting and collecting the rubbish,” said Badal, section leader of Lavajet staff at the Corniche.
“These extended hours of work are only for today and we would give overtime for that,” he said.
Averda assured its workers that they would be getting double pay for working holidays.
“We have more than 600 cleaners here at the Corniche,” said Mohammed El Amin, controller at Averda.
“They started at 2am and kept cleaning up to noon.”
anwar@thenational.ae
