Now drones to help keep Dubai clean

Representational Image

As winter camping season approaches, Dubai Municipality is focusing on its awareness campaigns to combat littering in desert areas. 
AbdulMajeed Al Saifaie, director of the Waste Management Department at Dubai Municipality, said drones are used to detect areas to help collect waste, not to fine litterbugs. His comment refuted media reports claimed drones will aim to catch desert litterbugs.
"Drones are not used to fine people, they are only used every once in a while to help us preserve the cleanliness of the desert areas," said Al Safaei. He added that the unmanned aircraft makes a large swipe deep in Al Ruwaya and Al Khawaneej areas where people sometimes have picnic trips. Once waste is spotted, inspectors are sent to collect the trash left behind by some campers.   
"As a municipality, our target is never to fine people, but to make them aware of following the right environmental habits," said Al Safaei, noting that residents receive several warnings on littering before being fined be it in their homes or the desert areas. 
The department first used drones last winter to detect waste hotspots in the desert. Al Safaei added that there are plans to deploy more drones around Dubai beaches to achieve the same purpose of saving working hours and achieving a more thorough cleaning coverage. 
Inspector teams perform occasional visits to the desert through one shift during weekdays and three shifts during weekends to watch for illegal littering habits among visitors and campers.  
As setting winter camps requires an approval from the building department, Al Safaei said inspectors impose Dh500 fine on campers who leave trash behind. The fine is tagged on their car number plates. 
"Our teams often pass by campers, pass out brochures on the location of littering bin, and the importance of preserving the environment. Trash bags to all winter camps are also distributed," said Al Safaei, noting that awareness campaigns target both occasional visitors and winter campers. 
He added that a main garbage bin is added at the main roads of each desert area, where people are expected to pick up their trash and dispose them at the bin. 
"We get comments from some people complaining that their cars are too expensive to handle the trash. Therefore, we urge residents to use the right tools and bags to transfer the waste," he said. 
With the municipality's efforts to preserve a clean environment in Dubai, Al Safaei noted an improvement in environmental awareness across residents. 
"Majority of people clean up after they their visits to the desert. The challenge in Dubai is its small size and great number of different nationalities, which prompts different ways of reaching out to them," he said. 
Dubai Municipality recently organized an awareness campaign to maintain the cleanliness of the desert areas under "My Desert is My Environment". The campaign reached around 200 desert visitors in the University City and Al Tay area. 
sherouk@khaleejtimes.com

• UAE

Sherouk Zakaria

sherouk@khaleejtimes.com