RIYADH, 5 June 2005 — Litterbugs in the capital could land in a fine pickle if they are caught in the act of throwing trash on the road. They will be punished with fines ranging from SR100 to SR300 from today.

Gen. Fahd Al-Bishr, director general of traffic control, said at a news conference that the fine will be enforced from today. “We are going to enforce it from today to coincide with the World Environment Day.”

He said Regulation No. 18, which calls for the imposition of these fines, had been in existence for the last 35 years. But it will be actively implemented from today, he added.

The traffic department is also launching a cleanliness drive in the Kingdom through an awareness campaign.

The campaign is being organized by Al-Safi Environment Friends Club in cooperation with the Traffic department to promote environmental awareness among the people and also keep the cities clean.

More than 16 cities in the Kingdom are marking the event, which will also see a million brochures in Arabic and English distributed among motorists.

The news conference, held at Al-Faisaliah Hotel, was attended by Abdulrahman Al-Muqbil, director of Riyadh traffic control, and Mohammed Al-Sarhan, manager of the club, which organized the conference and the environmental cleanup campaign.

Referring to the cleanliness drive in the Kingdom, Gen. Bishr said throwing of cigarette butts on the road would also be punishable with fine. Policemen on duty would impose the fine on offenders on the spot, he said.

Al-Muqbil said his department would start issuing tickets from today, while, at the same time, focus more on handing out brochures to motorists to keep the environment clean.

The campaign will kick off in Riyadh from the arteries of the capital, including King Fahd Road, which is used by more than 300,000 vehicles per day.

Speaking on behalf of Al-Safi Danone, Al-Sarhan said one of the objectives of the cleanliness drive was to impress upon more than a million car drivers all over the Kingdom the importance of protecting the environment and desisting from throwing trash from vehicles.

He said the drive would seek to impress on motorists the importance of civic consciousness through the distribution of plastic bags to be used for trash disposal. The bags will carry the logos of both Al-Safi Club and the traffic department.