Okaz newspaper recently carried a statement from Jeddah Deputy Mayor for Services Ali Saeed Al-Ghamdi in which he stated that the mayoralty has been continuously monitoring the standard of cleaning services in the governorate. A total of five companies have been awarded nine contracts to clean the city. Jeddah Mayor Hani Abu Ras regularly holds review meetings after carrying out inspection tours of various districts of the city. Senior officials from the mayoralty as well as from the cleaning companies and the company in charge of monitoring cleaning work attend these meetings. The meetings evaluate shortcomings in the execution of the contracts and propose effective solutions to upgrade the standard of cleaning in each and every district of the city. All of this is being done in light of the mayoralty's top priority and utmost keenness to undertake the cleaning of the city in the best possible manner. The mayor's inspection tours aim at closely evaluating the standard of the cleaning of roads, streets, markets and other public places, as well as the performance of cleaning companies in carrying out the task entrusted to them. The newspaper story did not mention the period of the contracts, their value or when they began. In awarding the cleaning contracts, the governorate was divided into nine divisions and each was awarded a separate contract. The nine contracts have been awarded to five companies, in addition to another company to monitor their performance. This is a clear acknowledgement of the failure of the old system of awarding cleaning contracts by inviting tenders from companies in order to award one company a contract worth a large amount of money to clean all the streets of the governorate. In the past, this company managed to secure a large number of visas to recruit cleaning workers through agents after reaching a clandestine agreement with them to receive cash from these workers. They recruited workers after offering them an attractive salary and good living conditions. But after reaching the Kingdom, these workers were faced with a stark reality that was in total contradiction to the promises that were made to them. They received a menial salary and were offered appalling living conditions. Therefore, even though the contract began well in the initial stages, it soon turned to the opposite direction with a fall in the standard of service and the poor monitoring of cleaning in some districts. The overall picture of cleaning conditions worsened and this was attributed mainly to the breach of promises made to workers in terms of their salary, allowances and living conditions. While the number of contracts or companies that are implementing them or the intensity or number of inspections made of the performance of the companies are not significant factors, the human element represented by the cleaning workers is highly important. This is the crucial factor with regard to the efficiency and standard of the cleaning work. This can never be achieved without providing an attractive and appropriate salary for cleaning workers after taking into account of the amount and kind of work they are doing. It is illogical, unreasonable and unfair to give cleaning workers a monthly salary ranging between SR300 and SR500. It is unjust and unfair to cram a large number of workers into a single room. This was what was done by cleaning companies in the past. This salary was very low compared to the amount of salary allotted by municipality contracts to each worker. The municipalities treated these workers fairly by fixing an attractive salary of not less than SR1,500 in addition to comfortable and decent living conditions. All of this was spelled out in the labor contracts signed with cleaning companies, which, however, failed to fulfill these conditions. The new plan to give cleaning contracts to a number of companies and appointing another company to monitor their performance, in addition to intensifying inspections by the mayoralty officials, will be successful only if the workers are given their due rights with regard to their salaries and allowances. In the event of any failure in this respect, there will be a repetition of what has happened in the past. Earlier, the proper cleaning of Jeddah was undertaken only in the posh districts in the northern and northwestern parts of the city where the elite class of people live in villas, palaces and residential compounds. The branch municipalities attached great significance to these districts with increased monitoring and they ensured the availability of partly covered trash bins. They also prevented African women from searching for empty cans of soft drinks and scrap iron in the garbage. On the other hand, these women can be seen roaming about the streets and collecting empty cans and other waste material from the garbage in the districts in the south, east and central parts of Jeddah. These women collect anything that they deem useful for them and leave the remaining trash scattered around the bins. I repeat that street cleaners should not be treated unfairly. They should be given attractive salaries and good living conditions, and should be protected from being exploited by unscrupulous brokers and agents who send them to the Kingdom from their respective countries. This will be possible only by incorporating specific provisions in the labor contract without allowing cleaning companies to decide such things on their own. These provisions must include a fixed amount of salary and other allowances as well as good living conditions, in addition to a ceiling to the number of workers each company can hire and the area of the district or region that comes under the jurisdiction of each cleaning project. Moreover, there should be an equitable distribution of cleaning workers in all the districts of the city. It is also essential to carry out proper awareness among members of society to deposit only closed garbage bags in trash bins. Municipalities should make such bags available to families either free of cost or at nominal rates. Fines should be imposed on those families which do not adhere to the rules and regulations with regard to keeping their neighborhoods neat and tidy. Municipalities should put an end to the phenomenon of African women taking trash out of garbage bins in search of empty cans and other waste materials. There must be enhanced hygienic awareness among the residents of the city. The authorities should take the initiative to award prizes for those districts and families which are keen to deposit garbage in its proper place and in a proper manner in order to keep the city neat and clean. — Dr. Ali Al-Ghamdi is a former Saudi diplomat who specializes in Southeast Asian affairs. He can be reached at [email protected]
