Residents of Karentina District in the south of Jeddah are facing a potentially deadly health hazard because of six large pools of stagnant water created by the November floods. The largest ‘swamp', estimated to be about 2,500 cubic meters, is located west of Petromin and is filled with smelly green water and inundated with mosquitoes, flies and other insects. Residents now fear that they are liable to be infected with dangerous diseases like dengue fever. To make matters worse, some people are now throwing their garbage into the stagnant pool. Young people have also complained bitterly because they have now lost a playground. “It was the only playground for the youth in this district. We have now stopped playing there because we are afraid of dengue fever,” said resident Mohammed Al-Harby. Al-Harby wanted the authorities to clear up the place. “We haven't seen any officials from the Jeddah municipality visiting our district or at least asking about our demands,” he added. In response, Engineer Mattar Al-Malki, head of Al-Jamea municipality, said that the authorities have been working on clearing up the pools of water. “We have used more than 51 diggers and 42 tipcarts with 205 workers to deal with the damage in the south of Jeddah,” said Al-Malki. He said that the Makkah Mayoralty and Civil Defense had provided 21 tipcarts and 23 diggers to assist the Jeddah Mayoralty to deal with any flood damage in these areas, including clearing up the pools of stagnant water. Meanwhile, the Jeddah Mayoralty is continuing to use chlorine spray in all areas of the city where there is a risk of an outbreak of dengue fever. “Our target in this program is to stop the spread of mosquitoes which is mainly responsible for dengue fever,” said Abdullah Al-Ghamdi, head of the southern Jeddah municipality.
