RIYADH, 9 December 2003 — Riyadh residents differ about waste management in their city, but most of them feel there remains much to be done; they call for more effective methods of waste control and tougher laws to reduce litter.
Not all of them believe that the authorities are solely responsible for the problem — though some do — and that the public has a responsibility to maintain a clean environment through sensible waste management.
“There is certainly more pollution in Riyadh today than a few years ago,” said Dr. Hamid Gamal, an urban planner at the Arab Urban Planning Institute (AUPI).
According to Dr. Ibrahim Al-Ruqaie, who has lived in Riyadh for more than 10 years, the city is much cleaner today than it was when he arrived; however, he added more could be done about effective waste management. Recycling, for instance, is still virtually unknown in the Kingdom, he noted, and increased public awareness of its benefits of recycling may be one solution.
Some citizens consider environmental protection nothing less than a national duty and have taken it upon themselves to help reduce waste and conserve resources.
Saad Thulab Al-Shabwy is well known as a self-made environmentalist. With no academic qualifications, Saad knows little about conservation methods or environmental awareness programs. With his “recycling” program, food items such as stale bread never end up in the trash. Neighbors stop by his house to place leftover bread in a white pickup parked at the front gate. The bread is then taken to be made into animal feed. Bread that is not stale and is still edible is set aside and given to the poor.
“There is great reward from God in not wasting food,” said Saad. A grandfather, Saad never thinks it beneath him to pick up trash from the street and place it in the proper receptacle — and with the number of people thoughtlessly littering the streets, there is seldom any shortage of trash to be picked up.
Few, however, are as considerate as Saad. Too many treat the streets as their personal garbage dump. In Batha, tons of litter are strewn in the streets or carelessly flung on the sidewalks. Often trash cans are only a few steps away. In Olaya, the once-beautiful plant containers in front of a popular bookstore are now littered with cans, tissues and cigarette butts.
Dr. Al-Ruqaie said: “Littering is a major problem. When I drive, I often see people in cars throwing cans and other trash into the street.” He believes that hefty fines should be imposed.
“In Jeddah, there is a SR100 fine for any person caught littering. Perhaps we should have a similar rule in Riyadh.” He said that SR150 should be the minimum fine for violators. That is still very little compared to some countries. “If you throw chewing-gum on the street in Singapore, you must pay a $500 fine,” he said.
Dr. Al-Ruqaie added that businesses which throw their trash into the street should receive much steeper fines. The authorities should first warn; if the offense is repeated, the fine should be imposed.
Last month, the Presidency of Meteorological Environmental Protection passed new regulations that call for enforcement of the Kingdom’s general law. The new regulations advocate increased monitoring and the sentencing of violators in the Court of Grievances.
“There has been a noticeable effort to reduce waste,” said Dr. Hamid Gamal of AUPI. “But the problem is huge.” The public needs to play a greater role in helping reduce waste, he said, adding that education was the way to get the public to understand — and react to — the problem.
