JEDDAH, 14 October 2003 — Under Jeddah’s concrete bridges exists a subculture of despair and fear. Here is where the city’s homeless population survives. It doesn’t matter what your background is, or who you know, these conditions do not discriminate.
For many, being homeless and having to live under a bridge is more than they can bear. One young man, a Saudi, said in an interview: “I was kicked out of my house because of a problem with my father. As a result, I lost my job. I have nothing to be happy about.”
Many turn to drugs to help them cope with their miserable existence. The same young Saudi continued: “Doing heroin puts me in a place that allows me to forget where I am. For a period of time, while I am high, I live the life I have dreamed of since being kicked out of my house. It is the only thing that makes me survive. It gives me something to look forward to.”
When the young man was asked how he supports what must be an expensive habit, he replied: “People come to us under the bridges and ask where they can get the drugs. We take their money, go to our suppliers and bring them back what they need. Of course, we keep some of the drugs for ourselves. Sometimes people who go through us to get the heroin or cocaine will get us high.
“There is a risk of course of being set up for an arrest, so some of us prefer to steal. Don’t believe anyone that tells you we don’t steal. We would kill to get high,” he added.
Not all the homeless are addicted to drugs. However, the feeling under the bridge is that they will get hooked sooner or later.
“There are people who arrive under the bridges and think that it will be just temporary. But as they get a dose of reality and feel the hopelessness themselves, they start with the drugs. Once they start, there is no stopping. I have been arrested and taken to a rehabilitation hospital five times. Each time I leave the hospital, I go straight to my dealer for a fix,” the young man said.
There are the fortunate few who are employed, but cannot afford a place to stay. Arab News came across Abdullah, a 27-year-old Saudi taxi driver, parked under a bridge in the early morning hours. The taxi was in an isolated, dark place, surrounded by garbage. As Arab News approached, we flashed our lights and sounded the horn to announce our arrival. We knocked on the man’s window several times wondering why the man wasn’t responding, and concerned about his well-being.
When he awoke, he told Arab News: “I am exhausted. I rent this taxi from the company by the week. It’s my home. I live in it. During the day I drive to make some money, and during the night I sleep in it wherever I can.”
When asked about the other homeless people that live under the bridges, he said: “Those people have lost all hope and given up on any chance of a decent life. In the beginning they had the idea that it was only temporary, but it has become a way of life and death for them. My nightmare is to become one of those people.”
Last November the landmark visit of Crown Prince Abdullah to a Riyadh slum led to a national program designed to eliminate poverty.
In February this year, Minister of Labor and Social Affairs Ali Al-Namlah said in a statement carried by the Saudi Press Agency that a team had been formed and given two years to complete the plan and establish a comprehensive database about poverty in the Kingdom. The goal is to establish the level of existing poverty and make sure that every Saudi family is above the poverty line.
It is estimated that Saudi Arabia’s population could double by the year 2015, and, with over a half of the Kingdom’s population 18 or younger, unemployment could increase significantly in the decade to come. Currently there are no official unemployment statistics, but the rate is estimated to be around 30 percent. All the indications are that many more Saudis may be living under bridges in the future.
