JEDDAH, 27 October 2006 — Eid is a happy occasion for Muslims the world over, but to some Jeddah residents the Eid holiday was a “disturbing” experience because of the traffic jams and congestion.

People who reside next to Jeddah’s Corniche had a hard time because of the massive tailbacks that occur in the entire area during the three-day celebration. Roads leading to the Corniche became extremely congested with Eid-revelers heading for a day at the beach. Traffic sometimes reached a point of standstill for long periods of time all the way up the Malik Road that is parallel to the Corniche.

Many vehicles tried going through residential districts between the King Road and the Corniche with an aim of avoiding traffic but these ultimately ended up jamming smaller back roads and alleys in residential areas.

Because of the big crowds, many people found it hard to get a place to sit by the seaside. Some families reportedly occupied space beside residences in the Corniche area worsening the congestion problem.

With an aim of escaping crowds and traffic many Jeddah residents close to the Corniche left the city complaining that they feel besieged at home. “The area becomes so crowded that I can’t leave my home during the evening for the whole period of Eid,” said Islam Abu Jebara, a Jordanian living in the Corniche area.

Abu Jebara said that this is his second year in the area. He said he has learned a lesson from the previous year and has taken his family to Madinah to celebrate there and avoid the congestion in Jeddah.

“All my neighbors have gone to their hometowns in the last days of Ramadan. ... Eid has become a disturbing occasion for us because of this problem,” he said.

Ahmad Al-Saidi, a Saudi resident of the Al-Shati District near the Corniche, said that it becomes quite difficult to leave home in the evenings during Eid and that he is only able to move and go places during the daytime when people are usually sleeping. “I always rush home before evening so that I don’t get stuck for hours before reaching home,” he said.

Al-Saidi recalls spending a night at his friend’s place just because he could not go home because of the traffic jam. “I feel so restricted during Eid because of this problem,” he said.

Al-Saidi noted that it was a problem going out at night because the jams were right in front of his house. He said if someone in the house needed medical assistance it would have been impossible to reach hospital during the rush hours.