Rubbish cleared from bus shelters

A bus shelter on Al Falah Street near Taha Medical Centre was cleaned on Monday after a week of neglect. Anwar Ahmad / The National

ABU DHABI // Commuters expressed their relief on Monday as the untidy bus shelters that had been overflowing with rubbish recently were cleaned up.

Following a story in The National on Monday about their filthy state, the Department of Transport sprang into action, cleaning and emptying the rubbish bins in the shelters.

“It’s good to see this cleaned up,” said commuter Taweez Batt. “Just yesterday I found this bin full of rubbish and some was scattered inside the bus shelter.”

With so many passengers using public transport, the Pakistani, waiting at the Madinat Zayed Shopping Centre bus stop on Muroor Road, said the bins needed to be emptied daily.

The Madinat Zayed stop was always crowded, Mr Batt said, because of its central location.

Sonia Mathu, an Indian who works at an Abu Dhabi hospital, said it was essential to maintain hygiene in such public places as bus shelters as untidy conditions could possibly sicken commuters.

She expressed concern that despite the rubbish being removed, the shelters were still not properly cleaned. “I remember it would have been very clean before,” said Ms Mathu while waiting at a shelter on Airport Road. “But I don’t know why the rubbish is not being collected each day.”

She said that she took the bus every day for work and that the stops on both side of the road in her commute were dirty. “Now I feel good to see it cleaned.”

On Al Falah Street, the overflowing bins at a shelter were also emptied.

Rohan Lal, a commuter waiting for his bus, said he had noticed the rubbish piling up each day.

“Just yesterday, it was difficult to sit inside [the shelter] due to the bad smell coming from the dumped rubbish. But it’s good now,” he said.

The Department of Transport did not offer any explanation as to why the rubbish had not been collected for more than a week.