MAKKAH — Residents who travel by the park located near the vehicle impound yard at the gateway to Makkah from Al-Sayl Road, say they are upset by the chaos and lack of organization by those in charge and lack of supervision by the municipality. They said that the park has become a major recreation area for families on weekends. Ghazi Al-Shareef said the park is considered to be the only recreation area for the residents of Al-Shara'ee District as it has a children's playground. Residents complain that the infrastructure is bad and the services provided to the families visiting the park are not developed. There are no garbage dumpsters either. Al-Shareef added that some of the problem lies with those who frequent the park, as they leave food leftovers and empty bottles on the ground. He stressed that it was necessary to set up more signboards so that visitors do not litter and help in keeping the parks clean. Meanwhile, Othman Mali, spokesman of Makkah Mayoralty, said the mayoralty supervises all these parks and green spaces to ensure that services are provided in a hygienic and proper fashion. This is in addition to supervision by subsidiary municipalities there. Mali added that Makkah Mayoralty is keen to expand public places, parks and squares in different parts of the city. These are set up with the public in mind so that they benefit from these projects. These public places are also used for holding summer and other seasonal festivals and national activities and events, apart from schoolchildren's campaigns like the Tree Week and Flowers Festival. He said that there was keen interest at Makkah Mayoralty to establishing public parks. There are over 193 parks in Makkah with a total area of 728,200 sq. meters in all the residential districts. Also, there are 33 playgrounds including those for football, basketball and tennis. He added that the total cost of similar new projects and those being established exceeds SR100 million. These include the setting up of parks, municipal courtyards, playgrounds and green areas in different districts of the city.
