90,000 people back Ematah campaigns for clean city

By Shahd Alhamdan JEDDAH — A local program called Ematah, apart from creating an awareness against dumping and littering, is set to introduce new fines for dumping of waste or littering the streets and public places. The program is gaining ground in the Eastern Provence. Ematah (Removal) was launched by Eastern Province Municipality a year ago. The proposed fines to be implemented soon will include SR200 for dumping of waste in the streets and public spaces, parks and waterfront, and SR100 for throwing waste or litter from homes or cars. More than 90,000 people on Twitter have supported the program’s campaigns in Dammam, Al-Khobar and Dhahran. Among those supporters, 1,500 in Al-Khobar have pledged on social media that they will keep public places clean and will maintain hygiene. The program was inaugurated by Prince Saud Bin Naif, emir of the Eastern Province, in order to educate the public and increase their awareness about public hygiene. Undersecretary of Civil Services in the Eastern Province Abdullah Al-Qarni said, “Ematah is a massive project that began a year ago to enhance society’s awareness about public hygiene and educate them about the importance of keeping public places clean. The project focuses on changing society’s attitude toward public hygiene, especially as the religion emphasizes cleanliness.” Al-Qarni added, “The project is targeting several groups including children, youth, families and expats. Around nine campaigns have been launched. For instance, ‘Ematah for Families’ campaign displays activities in malls and summer festivals. It encourages families not to litter in public places and to remove garbage from these places.” There are other campaigns named, Ematah for Cars, Ematah for Schools, Ematah for Universities, Ematah for Workers, Ematah for Shopping Centers and Malls, as well as Ematah for Sports. The last campaign focuses on educating youth in sports stadiums to keep them clean since most of the time garbage is strewn around these places. Al-Qarni said, “All government sectors have contributed in the Eastern Province, including the Ministry of Education and Saudi Aramco, toward the success of this project. In the coming period the program will be targeting children and educating them that dumping garbage is not a civilized action.” Ematah campaigns have attracted not only social media activists but also people in real life as many young people have helped and volunteered in the campaigns. Imad Melhem, accounts manager in a private company, said, “It is a great initiative to spread awareness to keep the city clean and increase the sense of belonging among foreigners as much as among locals.” Mahdi Alamaari, an employee in the private sector, said Ematah is a good campaign that will have a positive impact on society. However, he called for the setting up of a public number on social media were people could lodge complaints when they see someone dumping garbage or littering the streets.