A number of field officers of the Municipality of Jeddah regularly commit offenses that can be as serious as taking bribes, said acting Jeddah Mayor Khaled Aqeel. He said that he admits the problem exists in varying degrees among the municipality's field inspectors, but the municipality is working on eliminating the problem. Aqeel's comments came in a group interview with the municipality's top officials published in the Arabic daily Al-Watan on Saturday. Mahmoud Kinsarah, the municipality's director of the Licenses and Inspection Department, said that new procedures are in place to upgrade field work. Aqeel said that there are more than 140 market inspectors, adding that the Municipality is keen on motivating and adopting a turn-over system for inspectors to combat corruption and bribery. “Since inspectors will be changing areas on a regular basis, a shop owner will soon find out that he cannot continue to bribe the inspectors all the time, and that it is cheaper to comply with regulations,” he said.A clean city Aqeel said that the standards of hygiene in Jeddah leave much to be desired, and a number of shortcomings were noted in the southern and northern parts of Jeddah under the previous cleanliness contracts. “We have divided Jeddah into three areas, and signed a separate contract for each area,” he said. “Total allocations to cleanliness will amount to SR860 million and will be disbursed over a five-year period.” He said the standard of services provided to these areas will be the same, but emphasis will be placed on the waterfront (Corniche) and the areas facing the sea,” he said. Aqeel added that a new and safer method for lifting garbage containers has been adopted, since the new containers were originally designed for safe handling, contrary to the old metal containers. He added that the number of old containers was not enough, and called on residents to report their locations to the Municipality to get new containers. Also, new trash cans will be installed in the waterfront area, and sidewalks will be washed with water and soap every week or every other week. According to the new cleaning contracts, an operations room will be set up to receive reports on locations of garbage piles. The room's hotline will be 940. Also, the municipality has introduced new procedures to follow up on the performance of cleaning companies, including the use of “balanced performance cards,” said Aqeel.Ratting out the rats On combating mice, rats and insects in the waterfront area, Aqeel said the Municipality has awarded a new contract with extensive, effective procedures, not only for the waterfront, but also in the city's older neighborhoods, where the large number of warehouses create excellent breeding grounds for rodents and insects. Kinsarah, the Licenses and Inspection director, blamed the rodents and insects in the waterfront area partly on visitors and tourists who leave garbage behind, and partly on ornamental rocks, which have been inappropriately positioned for 30 years now. Kinsarah said the municipality has begun removing large numbers of rocks from the northern seafront area and replacing them with concrete blocks which should take care of the problem. He added that the municipality is implementing a new contract for cleaning up shores and seabeds to a depth of five meters. Aqeel said that a major, comprehensive public relations program has been designed to educate the community on “clean behavior.” The program will be launched later this month and will run for five years. In the early stages of the program, said Aqeel, the municipality will emphasize on education to the public on commendable cleanliness behavior. “The program will be supervised by the municipality, in coordination with notable figures in the community, including university professors, members of district centers, municipal councils, teachers and intellectuals in Jeddah”, he said. Also, in the next two months, people will be able to report the license plate numbers of cars whose occupants litter the city's streets. Aqeel said that the police will summon the owners of the reported vehicles and will be made to sign written undertakings not to repeat their offenses, and will pay fines if the violations recur. The system will become operational within the next two months.Show me the money Aqeel blamed the problem of delayed services projects on the lack of adequate financial allocations. He said that Jeddah is facing an acute shortage in contractors, as well as the reluctance of the existing ones to sign project contracts, because contracting companies are more attracted to large development projects all over the Kingdom. “The municipality will seek out foreign contractors,” he said. “In fact, a Chinese contractor is bidding for a contract to build a new bridge in Jeddah. We found that the bid is reasonable and we will start the procedures of awarding the contract soon.”Cleaning the back yard Aqeel also said that phase one of shutting down of the old garbage dump, east of Jeddah, is already underway. In the first phase, the dumpsite will be converted into a green, landscaped area. A new dumpsite further away from the city is currently under construction. “The dump site will be closed off in a scientific manner,” he said. “In the second phase, the site will be made environmentally safe and special insulating substances will be used to prevent harmful liquids from leaking into underground water.” The Municipality has also signed a new contract for garbage recycling, said Aqeel, without elaborating.Jeddah's Manhattan? He said that only two licenses have been granted to build skyscrapers in Jeddah so far, that is only in the waterfront area. More licenses will be granted in the future to build more skyscrapers in the area, pending authorization from the Civil Aviation Authority. Additionally, said Aqeel, the municipality is currently monitoring areas known to be popular among squatters. Harsh penalties will be placed against peddling livestock sellers. __
