The Corniche is a favorite location for families to hold gatherings and spend their weekends. Nevertheless, the culture of keeping public places clean has not spread yet among families and children. Arab News paid several visits to the Corniche during a week, and noticed that families kept their garbage behind when leaving. Some families leave their waste in plastic bags for the cleaners to pick up, despite the garbage container being only meters away.

“The Corniche is one of my favorite attraction places. It is sad that we treat the place like this. If families do not know how to respect the place, they should stay at home,” said Raid Nafie’a, a Saudi employee who sat with his family at the Corniche.

He added, “If we treat pubic places like our homes and keep it clean, everything will be fine. Some families leave garbage under the municipality sign ‘keep Jeddah clean.’ This is harming local tourism.”

He mentioned that visitors from outside Jeddah often criticize the dirty Corniche, and he, as a Jeddah resident, feels sorry when he hears such comments.

Um Ali, a Saudi woman and mother of five, blamed parents for not educating themselves first and then their kids about the importance of respecting public places. She said that people should not need awareness campaigns on keeping public property clean, because it is a basic instinct that should come with every person.

“I am sure that families who leave garbage behind, cannot keep their homes clean either. If they did not accept this behavior at home, why would they accept it outside? It is all about mentality,” Um Ali said.

According to Um Ali, the Corniche is a public property for all people to enjoy, and they should all work together to keep it clean.

Arab News approached a family of six who were throwing their garbage next to where they were sitting. When asked about their behavior, the father answered in a hostile manner that it was not their job to clean after themselves, but the job of “cleaning labor.” They only came here to enjoy their time. He justified his statement by asking: “Why should we keep the place clean when everybody else is trashing it?”

Dema Hussein is a Syrian who often goes to the Corniche with her family in the weekends. She thinks that visitors need more awareness on how to keep the Corniche clean. She also believes that fines should be imposed on those who make the place dirty.

“Bags, empty bottles and paper cups are everywhere. Before we sit down, we sometimes spend ten minutes trying to clean the place. I feel miserable when a family leaves their garbage behind and does not correct the bad behavior of their children when they trash the place,” Dema observed.

She recalled ordering a Saudi woman once to throw the trash she left in the garbage container. The woman told her that it was not her house to clean it, and it was not her job to place it in the container. The answer shocked Dema.

Arab News also spoke to a municipality cleaner responsible for picking up the trash from a certain area. He commented how tired he gets when he comes back and finds the same place he cleaned a while ago trashed by another family.