I am sure that Adel Faqeeh, the mayor of Jeddah, has traveled and visited the world’s largest and smallest countries and seen their costal cities. Usually shopping malls, restaurants, and residential areas are built hundreds of meters away from the shore giving citizens an opportunity to enjoy their time on the beach.
I am also sure that Faqeeh has visited the large public parks that the members of the public with their families visit day or night for picnics and for children to play around in. Public parks are usually surrounded with trees and are situated next to natural or man-made lakes, streams and rivers.
Visitors generally do not have to pay entrance fees nor do hawkers harass them. Everyone brings their own food and drinks and sometimes people hold barbeques and for that there are plenty of grills and water for people to use.
Therefore, I don’t really need to mention the entertainment and amusement possibilities that are free of charge and available to people around the world. I’m sure that Jeddah’s mayor has more knowledge of these things than I do.
But something that I seriously doubt is that I don’t think he has ever seen families including men, women, children, and youth sitting at every sidewalk and road that surrounds the King Abdul Aziz University. Nor do I think that he has ever seen these people sitting in the area surrounding the old airport, or on the roads that extend to the eastern part of Jeddah, and nor on the sidewalks around the King’s Road.
At the end of the day where else can these people go? There really aren’t many choices for them. Despite the dangers of these locations and the fact that they don’t have toilets and freshwater, people still go there to relax.
Most people who live in the Kingdom have never seen the public gardens similar to the ones that the mayor has seen around the world. What is even worse is that our authorities are constructing huge buildings and investing money into projects along the beach shore of Obhur. Restaurants, beach resorts, and amusement parks are spread out on every corner of the beach occupying every available space.
In addition, there is also the area where the Horse Riding Club was established and the place where the Coast Guards have their premises.
Investment projects have forced the citizens, who leave their homes with their families to spend some quality time together, to sit on sidewalks instead of gardens. Not everyone can afford to rent a cabin on the beach because the prices are definitely not cheap.
I am writing this piece after reading the Jeddah mayor’s statement about meeting with members of the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry concerning the public gardens that the municipality is planning to rent out to investors.
I know that investors in my country won’t be satisfied with maintaining the public gardens without establishing a crazy system to earn huge amounts of money. They think of every detail even the green areas and the air that people breathe.
The question is where will those families go who can’t afford to enter these places? Is it right to leave them on sidewalks in spite of the dangers that threaten their children?
I know that Adel Faqeeh has begun working at the municipality while it faces many problems and challenges. I know that constructing the huge buildings and investment projects on the shore came about as a result of the renting of some old parks.
Therefore, I wish and hope that he will leave the remaining public parks free for citizens to enjoy. Do you think that is possible?
