JEDDAH, 25 May 2004 — Many locally grown fruit and vegetables are watered with untreated sewage, according to a report in Al-Madinah newspaper.
Farm workers claim that the sewage used is healthy and increases yield, the daily reported
But doctors say selling sewage-fertilized products to the consumer is like offering cancer on a platter.
At horticultural farms to the east of Jeddah, farm workers stand by the roadside waiting for the sewage trucks to unload. Farmers pay the truck drivers very little in exchange for their “cargo”, usually between SR10-30.
“We don’t water our fields with desalinated water because it’s too expensive and fruit and vegetables are sold cheap these days” Mohammad Khan Sheikh, a farmer, said.
“We can’t afford the extra expense,” he said. I don’t think that fruit and vegetables watered with sewage do any harm to a person’s health because all the farms in the world water their products with waste water. It’s really good for the soil because it has natural fertilizing elements.”
Another farmer, Lutfi, agreed. “Watering the fields with waste water is part of our weekly routine. Food products watered this way don’t harm a person’s health since we don’t pick or sell them unless they are fully grown.”
Salah Ayed, a customer at Jeddah’s fruit and vegetable market, was shocked by the disclosure.
“If what you say is true, then this is disastrous and consumers are the victims. Vegetables are supposed to be healthy for humans, but like this, they turn into sources of ill-health,” he said.
Sameer Abdul Aziz Nimat Allah, another customer, was incredulous. “I don’t think it’s true. If it were, the authorities would confront the offenders and stop them,” he said.
Sulaiman Sulamy also thought this was a mere rumor. “Had you told me this 10 years ago, I would have believed you, but since we are living in times when nothing escapes the media this sounds very unlikely,” he said.
At several fruit and vegetable stalls, salesmen say they buy the products every day after Fajr prayer from trucks coming from Usfan, Thahban, and east of Jeddah.
When asked how farms in those areas manage without water, a truck driver stated: “On a regular basis, sewage water trucks unload in those fields”. When asked if that wasn’t illegal the answer was: “Well, that’s why the trucks deliver the sewage in the evening.”
Mohammad Nour Bukhari, the director of an agriculture research center, said the issue had been discussed many times and the center tried to find solutions. “But our efforts have always failed,” he said.
“We need to provide more water, recycled or desalinated, but again there is the problem of cost. Where do we get the money to finance such operations?”
An official source at the municipality confirmed that watering farms with sewage water is illegal and in theory carries an SR500 fine while the driver could lose his job. He asked people to call the 940 to alert the municipality to abuses.
