As we shift into the peak of the summer months and vacation time, it is understandable to assume that just about everybody has brushed away pending matters on their desks and taken time off for rest and recreation. However, when it comes to our friends in the civil sector, nothing apparently has changed.
Having stated for so long that in my modest opinion some of our local public service bureaus are on an eternal holiday away from their responsibilities, I am once again not disillusioned at the status quo. But the question I often end up asking myself is: Why are these public servants on holiday during summer months when it seems all year long they are enjoying similar liberties?
Perhaps the difference is that during the summer months, public servants actually get to board an aircraft and depart to some exotic destination with the singular purpose of doing nothing but relax, whereas during the rest of the year they stay at their desks, do very little, and remain relaxed.
Some may think that it is too harsh an assessment, but scores of others couldn’t agree any further. And although accountability and performance review has garnered some momentum in the civil sector, I wonder if the rot that had taken over our public sector in the past two decades and more would ever be arrested.
There is a flurry of road excavations going on all over the city of Jeddah, an obvious sign perhaps that the long-awaited comprehensive drainage and sewage system that the city was desperately lacking would finally materialize in our lifetime. It is a shame that we had to wait so long, considering that billions of riyals earmarked for such a project in years gone by ended up making a few richer in the pocket, but many more poorer in health.
In the heat of the summer months, I cannot but help feel sorry for those poor workers out there battling the stifling heat and humidity and the midday sun as they work their way underground laying down the pipes that will one day whisk away our waste products. Would it not be worth considering allowing a break from all such outdoor activity during the midday hours for humanitarian reasons? I understand some neighboring countries have implemented such a policy, and it is time we adopted something similar.
Roads are being dug, tunnels excavated, and once the pipes are laid and tested, the project site is to be refurbished. But where are the city project engineers and inspectors who have been entrusted to ensure that everything is returned to normal once work is completed in an area? Probably on vacation.
In many areas where the work had been completed, the site refilled and the contractor pocketed his dues and long gone, road resurfacing has been ignored or is of substandard levels. Added to the misery of existing potholes, this uneven finishing on our streets is one more addition to our growing list of woes. Who allows these contractors to get away with such shoddy practices is what I’d like to know.
World Cup fever has finally come to an end. The final game has certainly left a bundle of impressions on the locals and would undoubtedly be at the center of conversations for weeks to come. Not so much about the match itself but more so on Zidane’s head butt on the Italian opponent. With support for the French team overshadowing that of the Italians prior to the final, many here have not the will to censure Zinedine Zidane for the momentary lapse of composure.
There are reasons, they say for Zizou to have reacted that way. Could have been the heat of the moment, or the rising temperatures on the field. Or judging from stories coming out of France and Italy daily, something nasty was apparently said that made this maestro on the soccer field and a very private man respond in such a manner. Perhaps if he had a dose of our city streets and roads, he may have ended head-butting the entire Italian team including the coaches and the reserve team.
Until next week then; and try to double up on your liquid intake. The heat could be deceptively debilitating.
