Okaz/Saudi Gazette

JEDDAH — Residents of Al-Manar District 3 (located east of the Jeddah highway) blamed the municipality, the National Water Company (NWC) and Saudi Electricity Company (SEC) for all the difficulties they have experienced in the neighborhood since it was founded 12 years ago. They pointed out that the area was denied a sewage network which has caused swamps to spread in the streets creating foul odors, insects, and epidemics. Residents have been putting up a lot of effort to clean the area by investing large sums of money monthly to pay for suction tanks to clear the waters.

The residents blamed the municipality mainly for issuing building permits in a neighborhood that did not complete the infrastructure projects, such as the sewage network, in addition to the low level of environmental sanitation and the accumulation of waste in the streets of the neighborhood.

The Al-Manar residents warned of electrocuting, which is a dangerous threat due to unwired cables that exist currently on the roads. People demanded SEC remedy the situation and to remove the exposed wires that have been in the neighborhood for long periods of time.

Abdullah Bagassi said that if he can go back in time to buy a house in the Al-Manar 3, he would not have proceeded with the purchase. His reasoning is that the neighborhood lacks a lot of basic development projects, most notably a sewerage network.

He said, "I am hesitant now to invite relatives and friends to visit my home in the Al-Manar neighborhood. I am embarrassed that they see the low level of sanitation we are living in. The spread of sewage swamps and the accumulation of waste, as well as the environmental dangers that are threatening us." He stressed the need to address these issues and put an end to their suffering which is exacerbated especially in the street of Omar Bin Bari'.

He said that he is forced to use eight monthly tanks to drain the sewage from his home and pay to each of tank of SR150, which costs SR1,200. He pointed out that it exhausted him financially.

He added, "I and a few people in the area drain sewage waters, while there are those who can not financially. The flow of sewage in the neighborhood is the source of pollution for us."

Omar Noah agreed with his neighbor, Bagassi, in the obstacles that have plagued the Al-Manar 3 since its establishment.

He called on the NWC to address the situation quickly, repair the imbalance committed by the municipality, and establish a sewage network as soon as possible, describing the level of environmental sanitation in the area as "low."