At a school in south Jeddah, there are several posters on the walls reading, ‘An ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure.’
Nearby there are swarms of mosquitoes, carriers of the dreaded dengue fever skimming over stagnant pools of sewage water.
People in the area have voiced their concerns about the health risks posed by these conditions.
Arab News met some of the residents of the neighborhood after it heard that 10 people in the area had contracted dengue fever.
Saud Al Harbi, whose wife and two daughters are in hospital receiving treatment for the fever said, “Our streets are filled with brackish and unclean water which is a health hazard.” “For 10 people in the same neighborhood to become infected with the dengue fever should be enough evidence to prove that something is seriously wrong,” he added.
“In the beginning, water from the sewerage system began to accumulate in the streets. Then the pools grew larger forming cesspits which are now found all over the place,” he continued.
He said that the people of the neighborhood had contacted the Jeddah Mayoralty and the water company but to no avail. In response to one of these calls, a representative from the water company said, “We are still waiting for the approval of budget items to start maintenance work in the area.”
Issa Al-Jabiri, another resident said that the streets are attracting disease in addition to the offensive odors. “Insects now chase us right into our homes,” he said.
“Sometimes people from the mayoralty come to spray the area. In view of the large swarms of insects, it’s a losing battle. We need something more drastic,” he said.
Engineer Abdullah Al Assaf, chief of operations at the National Water Company (NWC), said NWS knows about this, and added that “The company will carry out major maintenance work to remove the cesspits and solve the problems in the sewerage system. Within a few days we will be sending 10 fully equipped maintenance teams to the area, to inspect the situation and speedily solve the problem,” he said.
Meanwhile, engineer Sami Nawar, spokesman for the Jeddah Mayoralty, said that the mayoralty will in the next few days send teams to spray the cesspits. “I promise the people of the area that the problem will be solved shortly,” he said.
Dengue fever posing health risks in southern Jeddah
