JEDDAH, 21 December 2006 — Anyone who has driven through Jeddah has probably noticed the numerous empty lots filled with piles of rubbish, the leftovers of construction projects dumped illegally in the cover of night by workers of unscrupulous contractors.

In an effort to eradicate these eyesores, the Jeddah Municipality announced yesterday that it has formed a new plan to remove an estimated 10 million cubic meters of illegally disposed construction waste from empty lots throughout the city.

Khalid Aqil, deputy mayor for services, said that the city started the program this month and managed to clear around 75,000 cubic meters of construction waste to the city’s new public landfill that was opened recently.

“We are planning to shift at least one million cubic meters of waste during the next six months,” he said. At that rate, the removal plan will take five years to achieve its stated goal.

Aqil said that the plan includes lifting the existing waste, monitoring empty lands and main streets where construction waste is usually dumped and establishing penalties for those who dispose their construction waste around the city.

He added that violators would pay a fine of SR2,000 and their truck would be impounded for a week. He urged residents to report any truck that is disposing waste near them to the city’s complaint hotline, by dialing 940.

The waste-removal strategy includes dividing the city into three zones with three separate contractors.

The deputy mayor also said the city is planning to establish air and water pollution monitoring stations.

“This sub-project will commence this year if the budget allows,” he said.

He noted that all 450 municipality trucks are equipped with satellite positioning systems that allows the municipality control room to monitor the work progress in real time.

The city is still using the old landfill while they shift to the new one. The old landfill will eventually be turned into the city’s largest public park.

“It would be a good payback for the patience of the residents who are living near the city dump,” said Aqil.