Many Jeddah residents have expressed concern regarding the city’s parks and gardens, complaining that they suffer from neglect, lack of amenities and poor facilities.
“More than seven years ago, the Jeddah Municipality established Al-Zohour Garden. However just one glance at the garden now and you can see leftover food littering the landscape and no electricity,” said Muhammad Mustafa, a resident of Al-Haramain neighborhood. He added that the residents had raised the issue with the municipality on more than one occasion to no avail.
Meanwhile, residents of the Mushrafa neighborhood demanded that municipality officials renovate the old public park, Tuhama Garden on Sahafa Street.
“All that’s left of the garden is some ruins and stories we hear from our elders about it’s beauty and the memories of times spent at the garden,” said one resident, who requested anonymity.
“The garden has been closed for more than two years now. It was a beautiful place where residents would breathe fresh air and enjoy quality time with their families and friends. Jeddah has lost one of its beautiful landmarks,” he added.
Yusuf Muhammad, another resident of the neighborhood, said an official at the municipality informed him that the garden was closed for maintenance.
Masoud Al-Sharif agreed with his fellow neighbors and said: “I used to go with my family to the garden to play with my children, but now all that’s left of the garden are dry trees and a dirty place.”
He expressed regret about the state of neglect, which had befallen the garden, pointing out that it was a shame that one of the oldest and largest gardens in the area had been abandoned.
Abdulaziz Al-Ghamdi, the official spokesman for the municipality, said the civic body is preparing to conduct an extensive campaign to inspect the state of public parks and carry out maintenance work.
“More than 480 gardens will be included in this campaign. All of them will undergo maintenance work; power will be provided to them along with other amenities. The municipality has allocated more than SR15 million for this endeavor,” the spokesman said.
Jeddah’s public parks require maintenance
