Fatima Muhammad Saudi Gazette JEDDAH — It took Saudi Gazette two hours to find a new park that had been built over an old sewage lake located in the far eastern side of Jeddah. Apart from us, there were only sewage trucks going in that direction, heading to what was formerly known as the Musk Lake, the body of water that was used to store sewage. The smell there used to be of anything but musk; instead, it was the stench of sewage and chemicals. Before we reached the location we got lost at least three times. We feared that the small car we were traveling in was going to be smashed by reckless sewage truck drivers. After the buildings gradually disappeared from view, we were left with only one long road with trucks going back and forth, driving in the street that seemed to have no end. Truck wheels had damaged the road, making it difficult for small cars to maintain their balance. Only mountains, car scrapyards and abandoned farms were seen on the side of the road. As we lost the road only truck drivers could guide us after they saw us parking on the side of the road. Saudi Gazette went in search of the impromptu nature reserve that had grown over the lake, eliminating the potential catastrophe that would occur if the lake burst its banks and cause the city to become flooded with dumped sewage water. Before reaching the lake we had taken a tour of an area where trucks dumped the sewage. Later we moved onwards in our search for what used to be the Musk Lake and is now a park. Suddenly a huge park appeared to us in the middle of a remote area, right when we had started to lose hope of finding anything. The park has a main gate but there were no guards. Inside there were a group of workers painting the walls of a small building on the right-hand side of the park. There were green plants all over, butterflies, lizards and a dog. There was a small building with glass all around, but it turned out to be nothing more than an empty hall. Workers confirmed that some visitors came to this park over the weekends, as demonstrated by the dumped drinking cans and plastic bags. The driver who brought us here said: “No driver can agree to take you to this area. Apart from being far, it is not worth driving to. “This road is not divided into two sections and makes it even harder for us to drive, especially as only trucks are using this road. “Small cars can get smashed easily with no one noticing. “I am not sure if anyone would really go to this park. It is isolated and no clinic is next to it, no food store is here, there are no signs to help drivers and most importantly the nearest gas station is 12 kilometers away. “I would never dare to go to this area. As a taxi driver I could never approach this area because it is next to the car scrapyards. “There are gangs here who could put my life in danger just to get my car.” Before we paid the taxi driver, who has experience in driving in Jeddah for over 10 years, he said: “No one can claim he knows Jeddah. There are always places hiding somewhere, just like this park.” Ibrahim Kutubkhanah, Jeddah's Deputy Mayor for constructions and projects, said the municipality hoped to attract the tourists to what he calls “the eastern forest”, which was constructed recently to regenerate the site of the Musk Lake, which had been dried out. The forest, he said, covers an area of 4 million sq. meters and has some 160 different kinds of trees, some of which are four meters high. Many plants are available in the forest, he said, that provide pleasant smells such as henna and jasmine. Other plants have been brought to the forest to help keep insects away, he said. The forest is part of a municipal plan to develop the area to be an open green area for Jeddah residents and visitors. “We are working on an investment project that will help move horse riding and motor riding facilities on the beach to a location not far from the forest.” Abdullah Al-Ahmari, head of the real estate committee at the JCCI, said the area would be connected to nearby urban districts. He added that when the land in the area was categorized and put on sale, this would help reduce the prices of land in Jeddah and open new doors for investors and the public to help expand the city toward the east. According to him, the area could offer up to 50,000 pieces of land for sale.
