Makkah cleaners call off strike

“Operation Cleanup” began in the holy city of Makkah on Friday as a strike by thousands of cleaning workers of a leading cleaning company came to an end. Garbage that had piled up in the past five days is being cleared up.
Garbage trucks and cleaning personnel have been pressed into service since early Friday to clear thousands of tons of accumulated garbage that pose a threat to public health. Residents who were forced to cover their noses to avoid the stink of accumulated garbage can breathe easy now, and are a happier lot.
Pakistani expatriate Kamran Butt told Arab News that garbage in his area in Makkah had still not been lifted by the municipality and that his neighborhood was suffering from unhygienic conditions. Indian expatriate paramedic Mohammed Moqeem said it had been a testing time for them in the last couple of days as garbage had piled up and cats were spilling it out along the road.
The cleaning company has a work force of over 6,000 employees, mostly South Asian expatriates, a majority of whom are from Bangladesh. All them work for pittance. They alleged that their accommodation at Al-Kakiah area in Makkah lacked even the basic minimum facilities.
The company also had slipped into the red category under the Nitaqat grading system of the Ministry of Labor where residency permits (iqama) of expatriate workers can’t be renewed, which led to the strike by employees.
Frustrated over the working conditions and denial of renewal of iqamas, thousands of workers decided to strike work, creating chaos in the holy city as garbage accumulated in the past five days, with residents expressing their concern over hygiene.
The labor problem has been there for some time now, but the company management chose to ignore it despite it being in the red category. Other problems too cropped up that affected the workers’ but the issue came out in the open after the Haj season, when he workers decided to strike work.
Last year too, the workers went on strike for similar reasons in addition to delayed payment of salaries. This year, however, there is no complaint of delayed payment of salaries.