For over six years I have been a devoted visitor of the Red Sea.
Her uneque beauty, grandeur and mystery never failed to inspire me during my moments of physical and emotional need. Whenever I felt the world closing in on me, I would retreat to her side for comfort, peace and serenity.
Retreating to the coastline of this divine creation never failed to replenish my soul with endless spiritual bounty. Having come to this addictive realization, I gradually developed the habit of taking 80-minute walks on a specific area that is considered to be the “prime location” for recreation in the city of Jeddah, not only for it being a well known waterfront area for visitors to enjoy, but also because it hosts five top-notch hotels and resorts frequented by locals, tourists, and official dignitaries alike: The Sheraton, The Hilton, The Westin hotels, as well as the Green Island and Al Nawrass resorts.
However, over the years, what started off for me as a comfort-finding quest ended up in a soul-tormenting mission of discovery. During my daily walks I began to notice a significant increase in the amount of human negligence taking place on this precious strip of public space that we choose to call “Corniche Jeddah”. I also began to observe that these unaccounted-for infringements spread aggressively to the point where they have now become health and safety hazards that threaten the well being of innocent families, children and tourists who visit this public strip that stretches some five kilometers long.
Corniche Jeddah today epitomizes urban decay at its worst.
It is bordered by a severely polluted seafront neighboring the Nawras resort as well as hundreds of blocks of broken pavements and potholes. This is not all. There are dozens of rusty razor-sharp lampposts, tens of exposed electrical outlets (risking injury to all), unprotected steep boundaries (waiting for unattended children to fall into), 39 unsupervised food vendors blocking walk paths and feeding passers-by with foods that have no safety and hygiene standards. I should also mention nearly 19 illegal gigantic advertisement billboards spreading across the walkways blocking the paths of pedestrians and exposing them to grave risks as they attempt to bypass them by stepping onto the road and into the path of oncoming traffic, dirty garbage bins exposed and infested with flies and mosquitoes. To top the list, there are only two public toilets within the five-kilometer range to accommodate all.
In December of 2007 and in response to the call of the Municipality as well as the Regional Council to citizens to participate in the development of the city by offering their assistance, I decided to do something about it.
However, I knew that no amount of talking or reporting would have any significant impact, so I resorted to the power of pictures and the power of e-mail as well as the power of online social networks.
I wrote a brief 2-page “picture report’ that visually described the state of Jeddah Corniche and sent it via e-mails to all my friends and contacts as well as to the Municipality, and the Municipal Council and the Regional Council. In the picture report, I called for a collective effort to find solutions to this chronically ignored situation.
Since none of the local authorities responded to my call, I decided to take my initiative a step further. I created a group called “Save Corniche Jeddah” and posted a call on “Facebook” to all lovers of Jeddah to contribute to the design of this “picture documentary” that aims to provide a framework for renewing the area based on solutions adopted from the best homegrown practices — mainly from the coastline of the Eastern Province, which is green and clean, systematically maintained and absolutely hazard-free.
The intention was to submit this collective effort carried out by concerned citizens and with the contribution of youth volunteers in a picture report form to the governor of Makkah Region by the end of March 2008. To my surprise, within a couple of weeks over 300 members joined the group and a select few of us got together to turn this vision into reality.
March is long gone, and many things happened since then. As a group we decided to carry out our initiative according to local protocol. We founded a group called “MUWATANA” which literally stands for “Citizenship’ but which is also an Arabic acronym made up of the first (and in some cases second) letters of Musharaka (Participation), Walaa (Allegiance), Amanah (Trust), Tumouh (Ambition), Numou (Growth) and Tatweer (Development). We carried out two formal meetings with the Municipal Council that were three months apart. We were told that our message was relayed formally to the Municipality and that it would take two weeks to get a response. Some four weeks later we are yet to receive any.
Credibility is built when we walk the talk.
The gigantic billboards posted citywide calling for citizen participation were a sight for sore eyes — but dramatically short-lived. There is nothing more painful than having to publicly expose our own shortcomings, but then again if the most basic of human rights are violated then the only option left is to do so. Local government exists to provide citizens with safety measures and protection from harm as well as with livable communities and efficient services.
If a simple development project such as the one we are trying to initiate is blocked by administrative sluggishness, apathy and lack of accountability then how can we as citizens be motivated to take part in the development of our communities?
As the team of MUWATANA waits for a response from the Municipality, it is business as usual on Corniche Jeddah. Innocent people are yet again exposed to food vendors who sell food produced in the most unhygienic fashion. Innocent children play and swim along the shoreline laced with toxic moss; humble families sit on the floors of broken boardwalks, instead of on the broken benches; cars roll over the pavements to get a better view of the sea because there are no concrete barriers to stop them from doing so; and oncoming cars jam their breaks as the topless purple garbage bins slowly roll on to the street aided by the large wheels attached to their bottom.
If these images have stirred some consciousness into your heart then do the right thing and be part of the solution and add your voice to ours to create awareness by building alliances with the private sector and the authorities to restore Corniche Jeddah to its past glory of being an aesthetic and welcoming recreational site for the benefit of all. This is a public initiative that needs everyone’s contribution.
