Ghazi Falamban Okaz newspaper I was highly impressed by the Friday sermon delivered by Sheikh Bakair, imam and preacher of the mosque at Al-Nawras Square last week. In the thought-provoking and unusual sermon, the imam drew attention to a number of things that are to be taken into account in protecting and preserving the environment and the seafront. The timing of this subject was significant because it was delivered on the occasion of the partial opening of the North Jeddah Corniche after it had undergone a facelift. The sermon contained several quotes from the Holy Qur'an and the Traditions of the Prophet (peace be upon him) that underlined the significance of protection of environment. The North Corniche renovation project — despite my conviction about the exaggerated value of the contract like many other projects — is a fantastic achievement that is to be commended. Significantly, its beauty and cleanliness must be maintained. The next day in the morning after listening to the Friday sermon when I walked around the pathways on the Corniche, I witnessed leftover food and bottles of drinks scattered here and there, damaging the beautiful landscape even though there were baskets and trash bins placed everywhere. This gives an impression that those frequenting Corniche lack a sense of responsibility to protect its environment and beauty. I am afraid that the Corniche will lose its beauty and elegance within a short period of time with graffiti disfiguring its walls, vandalism damaging the new facilities or valuable lamps being stolen in the absence of proper monitoring, cleaning and maintenance measures. There has been remarkable increase in the number of Jeddawis spending their weekends on the Corniche especially after the new facelift. The city residents will flock to the Corniche when the new restaurants, cafes and recreational facilities become operational, especially with the start of the summer vacation. The visitors faced two major problems on the Corniche. The first one is inadequate parking areas, even though there are plenty of lots. This forced some visitors to park their vehicles on the sidewalks. The second one is tiring traffic jams on the road leading from north to south that disrupts people's enjoyment of the Corniche, views of its fountains, children engaged in amusement, and gathering of visitors. This will be more intolerable during the vacations with when a large number of people flock to Jeddah from various regions of the Kingdom. Therefore, we have to think about innovative working solutions to address these problems before the heavy rush of visitors takes place. Perhaps, these solutions include construction of double lane roads in the single direction at Nawras Square from north to south with a number of exits. There should be more parking areas close to the left track along the road leading to the south. This will accommodate more vehicles and visitors on the Corniche. The left service road going north will provide flexibility for the vehicles of those residing in nearby areas and employees of commercial shops on the Corniche. I wish that nominal fares could be charged to using the toilets. A cleaning worker can be appointed there around-the-clock to keep them clean and tidy and protect them from troublemakers. I also wish that volunteers, who expressed via Facebook their willingness to do voluntary work on the Corniche, would be allowed to do so in a systematic manner. Wearing the bright colored Hijazi uniform, these volunteers can foster a positive impression of volunteerism in the Kingdom of Humanity. Congratulations to all visitors to the Corniche of the Bride of the Red Sea.
