Okaz/Saudi Gazette
THE Sanabil Mosque on Jeddah Corniche is surrounded by sewage, causing untold problems to worshippers.
Residents have expressed their anguish over the mosque's pathetic condition due to environmental pollution and held the municipality, the National Water Company and the Ministry of Islamic Affairs responsible.
They urged the authorities to find a quick solution for the problem because the condition of the mosque was giving visitors and tourists a bad impression about Jeddah and its municipality.
"It's unfortunate that the Jeddah municipality did not take any action so far since the surfacing of sewage around the mosque several days ago," said Nasser Al-Saeedi, one worshipper who frequents the mosque, which is one of the beautiful landmarks on the city's seafront.
People enter the mosque with difficulty as it is surrounded by sewage. "We don't know who is responsible to relieve us of this problem, whether it is the National Water Company, the municipality or the Islamic Affairs Ministry," he added.
"What we need is to put an end to this nasty problem as quickly as possible," he said.
Ahmed Ali, another resident of the area, called for a drastic solution to the problem of sewage around the Sanabil Mosque, which attracts a large number of tourists and holidaymakers every day.
"Worshippers find it hard to reach the mosque because," Ali told Okaz/Saudi Gazette. He urged the NWC to solve the problem immediately.
Khaled Al-Yaseri said the presence of sewage around the mosque would affect the mosque's spirituality. He called upon the Islamic Affairs Ministry to take immediate action to end the problem.
"Worshippers are greeted by a nasty smell coming from the sewage. They are not able to concentrate on worship due to this disgusting smell," he added.