Good health remains a dream and hope sought by everybody. This is especially the case for people like us in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf region where diseases like diabetes, obesity, heart and others are common. Apart from the harsh weather that renders much of the year unsuitable for exercising, we continue to lack the facilities that make it easier for people to walk or jog.
During my trips abroad I have noticed that hotels provide guests with pamphlets telling them where to find the suitable tracks and open grounds where they can easily pursue their favorite sport of walking or jogging.
What have we done so far to encourage this sport? Nothing. The municipalities that are supposed to secure the tracks and other facilities are busy looking for potential investors to rent open grounds all over the city that could have been turned into play fields.
The public however realized the need for exercising and started finding themselves tracks elsewhere. Here in Jeddah we have the "pregnant women lane" which was discovered by pregnant women several years ago and has since been flocked by males and females of all ages. The important thing here is that many youth have developed a love for the sport and increasing numbers of them could be seen frequenting the place although some may have come not to jog but to harass women.
The municipality is said to rent a small kiosk along the Corniche for SR150,000 annually. If this is true, it shouldn’t surprise anybody to pay SR2 for a small bottle of water that is usually sold for SR1. Thus both the municipality and the investor are making money at the expense of the consumer.
What kind of investment is this whose only concern is making money? This is a shortsighted action that does not encourage homeland tourism. No wonder many people prefer to leave the country to spend their holidays in places they regard much better.
A sound mind is found only in a sound body. Let us provide the population, both men and women, old and young, with suitable places where they can exercise. Let us build a healthy society instead of renting open spaces to build amusement centers and cafes intended for hookah smoking.
30 July 2002
