Workers in Dubai jump to action after New Year’s Eve, spend Jan 1 cleaning streets

Workers in Dubai jump to action after New Year’s Eve, spend Jan 1 cleaning streets

As the rest of Dubai celebrates the beginning of 2024 with a public holiday, unsung heroes can be seen on the streets, keeping their heads down and working hard to keep our city clean.

Street cleaners from Dubai Municipality and private entities are among those that are responsible for the city's reputation as one of the cleanest in the world. Although their efforts behind the scenes may often go unnoticed, they are the backbone of our city.

One among these heroes is Ahmed Jamal, a Bangladeshi expat who has been cleaning the streets of Dubai for the last 20 years. “This is possibly my 20th New Year's day in the city, and I have worked on most of them. It's like a routine for me. The streets that I clean... I get disappointed seeing them dirty. I pick up my grabber tools to give a fresh look to the streets,” said Jamal, who started his work at 9am to clean a stretch of 5 kilometres in Deira. He cleans the main streets and by-lanes around the 'fish roundabout'. “By the time it was 12pm, I cleared 40 per cent of the street. However, I still have the by-lanes to clean,” said Jamal.

Jamal