MAKKAH – As many as 12,000 members of field teams have swung into action to cleanse the neighborhoods of Makkah and the holy sites through the use of environment-friendly and safe sterilizing and cleaning materials. This was in line with the directives of the general department of public health at the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs. The general cleaning department at the mayoralty in Makkah has intensified its cleaning drive through using highly advanced equipment for removing waste, washing and disinfection of garbage containers and waste bins, in addition to using devices for spraying and sterilization operations. It also implements automatic road cleaning plans and washing sidewalks. Raad Al-Sharif, director of public relations and information department of the Makkah mayoralty, said that there are teams to deal with emergency situations in the event of natural disasters such as rain and flooding. There are specialized field teams for the operation and maintenance of a giant network of rainwater drainages and preventing the dangers of flashflood. Al-Sharif also unveiled the operational plan for the mayoralty’s slaughterhouses with beefing up of their monitoring and emphasizing accurate veterinary inspections before and after slaughtering. He said that it would be mandatory for slaughterhouse workers to take all precautionary measures and preventive protocols to stem the spread of coronavirus, including wearing of masks and head covering, continuous washing and cleaning of hands, in addition to cleaning slaughtering tools and transport vehicles on a regular basis, alerting butchers and workers on social distancing, personal hygiene for workers, measuring temperatures of customers and workers with provision of sanitizers at the entrances. Monitoring committees are continuing their inspection of markets and foodstuff stores, including restaurants, laundries, and salons, Al-Sharif said while noting that there are daily laboratory analyses of food samples.