Over 10 million discarded tires near Jeddah's main dump pose a big environmental threat to its residents, warned Jeddah Municipal Council members. They have urged authorities to take immediate measures to prevent the threat posed by the tires. The council has set up a committee under the chairmanship of Dr. Khaled Al-Aseeri, who is chairman of the health, environment and municipal affairs committee, to check the situation on the ground. Mayoralty officials preferred to keep mum on the issue when Al-Madinah Arabic daily contacted them to get their comment on the issue. The spokesman of the Civil Defense Department (CDD) said his organization was not concerned with things happening inside the dump. "The municipal council members are aware of the health and security dangers posed by the tires. If any fire occurs it would spread cancerous Freon and dioxin gases," he said. "We have visited the dump in coordination with the mayoralty and it will be followed by an emergency meeting which will be attended by the deputy mayor on Wednesday to discuss a suitable solution for the problem," he said. Al-Aseeri said the council had found good cooperation from the mayor on finding a viable solution for the welfare of Jeddah residents. Some leftovers like methane gas can be converted into investment projects, he said, adding, that it would be discussed during the meeting. Hassan Basfar, a member of the municipal council, called for a quick solution to the problem. "If any fire occurs near the tires it would trigger a health and environmental catastrophe and Jeddah hospitals would not be able to deal with it." He said the field visit by the committee would help get an idea of the present situation at the dump and learn whether the contractors are operating properly. Al-Madinah's correspondent visited the dump and found more than 10 million used tires accumulated on its southwest while workers of a workshop in the center engaged in various activities. Dead bodies of tens of animals were spreading a nasty odor. Col. Saeed Sarhan Al-Ghamdi, spokesman of CDD, said his organization was not concerned about the accumulation of tires inside the dump. "Our duty is to extinguish fires when they occur there." He said it is the duty of the mayoralty to manage the dump and get rid of its waste. "The CDD council comprises of representatives from various government departments. We coordinate with them at times of emergency," he told the Arabic daily. The correspondent also met the deputy mayor to know the reason for the accumulation of huge numbers of tires in the dump without taking steps to get rid of them and why the recycling factory was not operating. He said he was not authorized to make press comments. The official in charge of the media center at the mayoralty was contacted by the paper to get his comment but was not ready to respond. The director of the cleaning department also refused to reply when asked by the newspaper for a comment.
