King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, has given his orders to the Ministry of Municipal Affairs giving the city's hygiene services a facelift during Ramadan, said Osma Fadhl Al-Bar, Mayor of Makkah. Municipalities across the city have already started implmenting the King's instructions with a package of improvements aimed at making Makkah look cleaner and healthier this coming Ramadan for the excepted influx of more than 2 million visitors to perform Umrah, the mayor said. As part of the clean-up effort 5,600 workers, 600 street sweeping machines, and garbage trucks will work around the clock to keep the city clean, Al-Bar said. A team of more than 100 workers equipped with trucks and sweeping machines will be kept on stand-by to meet any possible emergency. The mayoralty has provided 145 pressurized garbage containers to keep trash secure and contain any bad smells. Fifty of them will be placed around the Holy Mosque. In addition, specially equipped vehicles will spray insecticide to combat diseases spread by insects. Health inspection committees have also been formed to inspect various locations such as restaurants, open-air markets, slaughterhouses, and water pumping stations to ensure all health and safety standards are being met. Inspectors will take samples of food for testing as well as checking worker health certificates. Veterinarians check the lungs and liver of every animal at slaughterhouses for diseases like Tuberculosis before they are sent to the market for distribution. Any establishment failing to meet the requirements will be fined, Al-Bar said. The city's roads, sewage, water networks, and public toilets will be closely monitored by the mayoralty, Al-Bar said. Six parking lots set up around the holy city have been equipped with mosques, baths, cafeterias. Buses have also been organized to take visitors to the Holy Mosque. Visitors may not be allowed to drive their vehicles to the premises of the Holy Mosque to avoid traffic congestion during Ramadan. “We thank Allah for the exhaustive efforts of the civil authorities have helped us avoid an epidemic over the last few years.” __
