Garbage upsets tourists

SHOCKING: Garbage piles up as municipalities cite shortage of trucks as the reason for inaction. (AN photo by Ahmed Hashad)

TAIF: The roads in the Al-Shifa tourist center, near the resort town of Taif, are full of garbage due to the absence of sanitation workers in the area for several weeks. Particularly affected are the roads leading to the valleys of Al-Aqleeh, Humans, Martin, Al-Tuwailiyah, Al-Qamah, Wait and Al-Heet.
The garbage is either piled up together or scattered randomly throughout most of the wadis (valleys) and villages of Al-Shifa tourist center. The company that has the task of removing the garbage has failed to provide an adequate number of trucks to clear the waste.
Because of this oversight, the garbage is destroying the natural beauty of the seasonal rose and fruit gardens, particularly as the center is among the first tourist attractions for visitors from various parts of the Kingdom and other Gulf countries.
People of the area have expressed their disappointment and irritation over the issue, asking why the secretariat or the Taif and Al-Shifa municipality branches could not find a solution of this basic problem.
The residents of the area have urged the authorities concerned, particularly the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs and the Secretariat in the region, to find an immediate and final solution to this problem to safeguard the natural beauty of Al-Shifa tourist center because it is the face of the region.