Residents of Jeddah's downtown districts met Wednesday with members of the Municipal Council to highlight their grievances over security, waste removal and the contamination of Al-Arbaeen Lake. The meeting included Dr. Ayman Fadhel, Chairman of the Municipal Council, other municipal members and some residents of Al-Hindawiya, Al-Amariya, Al-Baghdadiya, Al-Sabeel, Al-Sehaifa and Al-Kandara districts, according to reports in Al-Watan and Al-Riyadh Arabic dailies on Friday. Residents said that they face many problems including a security threat from the number of abandoned cars in their neighborhoods, poor cleaning and lack of garbage containers. They added that only 100 out of 500 street lights work and that the mayoralty is slow to respond to their complaints. The residents also complained about the poisonous gases from a waste recycling factory located on the east highway. They said the smoke has caused a lot of health problems among children and asthma sufferers. Abdul Majeed Al-Batati, Assistant Jeddah Mayor, said the Jeddah Mayoralty has signed contracts with nine companies to solve the garbage removal and cleaning problems in these districts. The chief of Al-Kandara District highlighted the problem of street vendors selling bad products and causing traffic congestion. The chief of Al-Shatee District spoke about the contamination of the sea and its detrimental and destructive effect on marine life. He called on the authorities to prevent waste water from being dumped into the sea. Fadhel said the council cares about these issues and added that such periodic meetings help the council solve problems, in cooperation with the Jeddah Mayoralty.
