Director General, Dubai Municipality
Aghaddir Ali | Senior Reporter
March 2020. The streets of Dubai were empty. People stayed away as their movement was restricted. Public transport services, including Dubai Metro, were suspended. An army of workers backed by vehicles and drones moved in to spray disinfectants on public areas. An unlikely scene in a vibrant city like Dubai. But these were extraordinary times when a coronavirus was stalking the world.
A global pandemic called for extraordinary measures. Dubai Municipality led the battle against the coronavirus with a comprehensive plan. Besides disinfecting public areas, the civic body carried out inspections to help reopen businesses and control infections in worker accommodations.
In an exclusive interview with Gulf News, Dawood Al Hajri, Director General of Dubai Municipality, explained the measures that helped combat the spread of COVID-19.
“Dubai Municipality started implementing the necessary preventive measures right from the early days of COVID-19. A comprehensive plan was drawn up to ensure the health and safety of all the people in the country. The municipality deployed all resources, including smart technologies, to prevent the spread of the coronavirus,” Al Hajri said.
The implementation of the disinfection programme is one of the major tasks carried out by the Dubai Municipality in the fight against the pandemic. From March 26 to April 5 last year, the streets and public facilities were doused with disinfectants every night. That was no easy task.
“Dubai Municipality carried out the task by deploying a modern integrated fleet of 146 vehicles and equipment with the cooperation of other government departments. In all, 728 trained staff from the municipality worked with specialised equipment, including drones, to disinfect public areas. In some areas, where access was difficult, spraying had to be done manually by the staff,” the municipality chief said.
The quality of products used for disinfection had to undergo rigorous checks to ensure that they were not harmful. “The products were evaluated and registered in the system. It contained only active substances in the EPA-approved lists and anti-bacterial chemical centre lists of the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. The World Health Organisation recommended these substances,” Al Hajri explained, adding that the municipality regularly updates the list of disinfectants approved for professional use, published on its website.
The inspections continued beyond the disinfection programme. “The municipality appointed a Supervisory Support Team to ensure that buildings, institutions, sites and facilities implemented the COVID safety measures. Teams of 421 inspectors and other officials carried out round-the-clock inspections of food establishments and health institutions, which were also provided circulars on safety protocols. This allowed the reopening of the economy and social activities in a phased manner,” Al Hajri said.
THE INSPECTIONS, IN NUMBERS
Worker accommodations
Health and hygiene at workers’ accommodations and construction sites received extra attention from the Dubai Municipality, which drew up procedures and standard practices to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
Treating medical waste
COVID-19 tests and treatment at clinics, hospitals, healthcare centres and laboratories resulted in large quantities of contaminated medical waste. Special handling was required to dispose of material with the virus.
“The Dubai Municipality rose to the challenge and helped treat 3,400 tonnes of medical waste. The hazardous waste was transferred from medical centres to a facility in Jebel Ali facility equipped with eco-friendly waste treatment systems,” the municipality director general said.
A mobile medical station was purchased to enhance the work of the central stations at the treatment facility. Even general waste contaminated with the virus was sanitised before processing, and a sanitisation tunnel was installed to accelerate the treatment, Al Hajri added.
The reopening
When businesses reopened and social activities resumed in a phased manner, the Dubai Municipality shouldered the responsibility of ensuring that the premises and people conformed to COVID safety protocols.
“Since April 25, 2020, the municipality’s field teams launched monitoring campaigns and inspections at all institutions, buildings and facilities. Circulars were also issued regularly to update on the guidelines and safety practices to ensure their compliance,” the director-general said.
“The municipality also coordinated with the Executive Council and other government agencies on September 24, 2020, and drafted the protocol for food and beverage outlets. It also helped in the reopening of health and safety activities,” Al Hajri added.
Keeping the festivities under control
When Christmas and New Year festivities arrived, the municipality had a plan for complete coverage of business establishments and leisure avenues, including shopping malls, gaming and event areas, food establishments, hotels, cafes, parks and beaches. A special task force worked for more than 4,200 working hours to keep 272 million square metres of public spaces safe.
“More than 72,000 food supervisors and 1,867 health supervisors helped keep tabs on health and hygiene. Smart platforms and applications of Dubai Municipality helped in the remote training of supervisors and employees at food establishments,” Al Hajri said, recounting the stress of such a mammoth task.
The festivities were a huge success. Dubai Municipality wore a smile as fireworks lit up over Burj Khalifa.
Dawood Al Hajri, Director General, Dubai Municipality.
