VIP rodents on Jeddah’s Corniche

Bassam Fatini Al-Watan Some governmental entities in Saudi Arabia deserve international awards for comedy, and none more so than Jeddah Municipality, because they are quite good at using rodents to make comedy shows. The evidence is available on their social media accounts. The municipality documents and closes down restaurants for poor hygiene and for rodent infestations. Imagine that. Yes, the municipality defames some restaurants and documents all of that. However, what about the spread of dirt on our streets because of the municipality’s failure to have them cleaned? What about the smell of sewage and the way sewage overflows every day and spreads foul smells in the city, even on the Corniche? What about rats, super jumbo ones, hurrying among rocks on the Corniche? Some of them are as large as sheep and even cats avoid them. What about the potholes, bumps and uneven asphalt? Does the municipality know that it is responsible and accountable for all of this? There is only one explanation for holding rodents found in restaurants to account and leaving the ones on the Corniche free to roam and that is that the ones on the Corniche must be immune. The evidence for this is that they are able to live their normal everyday lives without anyone raising a finger while those in restaurants are defamed and exposed to the public, and their images uploaded on social media. I feel bitter when I remember my childhood. Back then, Jeddah was so beautiful that it was called a bride. Today, the city is limping and its skin is cracked. However, there is still hope for a return of its lost youth.