Fixing Jeddah streets, one pothole at a time

A group of Saudi volunteers has launched an online campaign in an effort to make Jeddah streets safer for vehicles and more user friendly.
The campaign especially targets the ubiquitous dents and potholes in streets, which damage cars and create traffic jams. As part of the drive, the volunteers started a YouTube show featuring videos and photographs of damaged streets all over Jeddah. The group started a twitter hashtag called #7ofarna, Arabic for potholes, to spread the word and get feedback.
#7ofarna is the brainchild of Wessam Kabli and Raef Sherbini and is being executed by Libra Productions & and Infrared Studios. The team went around Jeddah to gather pictures and videos of potholes.
“There have always been individual attempts by many of us to fix these potholes through the official channel of Jeddah Municipality but when the campaign idea was thought we believed it would be an unusual approach if it can be an interactive campaign,” said Thamer Farhan, project and talents manager at Libra Productions “The campaign aims to build awareness about the locations of these potholes and to create a database for Jeddah Municipality,” he added.
The volunteers aim to reach responsible people. “We want better streets and we want to prove that people are motivated enough to do good deeds only if they are approached in the right way. And the right way for now can be defined as creativity,” said Farhan.
The youtube show is the core of the campaign, according to Farhan. “Its where the potholes are shown in a new, interesting manner. We also announced a Twitter hashtag to be used by viewers to upload pictures of other potholes,” he said. “We choose Youtube because of the freedom of content and because it represents everyone,” he added.
“The Feedback from viewers has been awesome. Since its launch, the hashtag has been much used and has thus proved to be an interactive tool to spread awareness,” said Farhan.