JEDDAH, 8 August — Industrial waste is partly blocking a drainage system close to the Palestine flyover that runs over Jeddah’s Madinah Road. Residents in the area revealed to Arab News that a number of nearby marble and granite factories were dumping their waste in the area.
“Some factories throw empty barrels and hard materials onto the drain. This will result in the system becoming completely blocked in the future,” they pointed out.
The partial blockage has already created swamps — a good breeding ground for mosquitoes — on one side of the flyover, a Saudi resident commented. He called upon the authorities to take swift action to clean the area, fearing the mosquitoes could spread various diseases.
Maeed ibn Rajab Al-Zahrani, chairman of the Umm Al-Sulm Municipality, told Arab News that three containers have been set aside for removing the waste dumped at the drainage system.
Al-Zahrani warned that the municipality would fine any factories which dump their waste in contravention of safety laws.
“We have already imposed a SR5,000 fine on a company for dumping,” he pointed out. “We have pardoned a factory when it cooperated in removing waste from the area. But when another refused to cooperate, we fined them and demanded that they remove it at their own expense.”
Al-Zahrani added there is a special department at the municipality to clean and protect drainage systems.
Col. Ali Al-Aqeely, acting director of the civil defense department in Jeddah, emphasized the importance of the drainage system near the Palestine flyover working properly and urged the relevant departments to clean the area regularly.
