JEDDAH, 9 January 2008 — The Jeddah Municipality announced that it would erect a massive security fence around the old city dump east of Jeddah in an effort to prevent garbage diggers from entering the site, which is facing closure this month, according to a municipality official.
“Since a concrete fence would take eight months to erect, we chose to make a massive and secure chainlink fence, which would take much less time,” said Khaled Aqil, deputy mayor for services.
The old dump would be fenced in order to prevent garbage diggers who often light fires to expose metals that they can sell, a process that has caused many problems especially to the neighborhoods near the dump site.
Aqil said the municipality has increased the number of inspectors and security guards not only in the old dump, but the new one as well, which is due to open next week. He said that municipality officials have caught a number of garbage diggers who were trying to climb the walls of the new dump in order to secure their places when the dumping takes place.
About the recent major fire that broke last week in the old dump, he said that the situation is calm and the fire has been completely put down.
“Municipality and Civil Defense officials are still cleaning up the site from the damages caused by the fire,” he said, adding that more security has been implemented into the area until the completion of the new security fence.
He noted that the municipality is currently seeking bids on a contract to reclaim the old dump and turn it into a public park. He said that the project would take about two years to complete.
Aqil was speaking to the press after inaugurating the second phase of the cooperative social service campaign named “We are all responsible,” which aims at fighting irresponsible public behavior.
The event, which took place at King Abdul Aziz Cultural Center at Abrug Al-Righama, in east Jeddah, was attended by Abdullah Al-Thaqafi, head of the Education Department of Makkah region, in addition to 1,500 students representing 60 schools around the city.
The campaign is a continuation of a yearlong program initiated by the municipality since mid-July 2007. Students are involved in several community projects, including cleaning streets, walls and beaches, Aqil said.
The launching event started with a comedy play that highlighted the responsibility of both locals and residents toward the city and society. Sami Nawwar, head of the municipality’s culture and tourism department, presented a slideshow about the achievements of the campaign from the beginning up to the launch of the second phase.
Nawwar said the city had seen major changes since the launch of the campaign, especially in the old quarters of Balad.
