Saudi- Jeddah runs out of waste bins

(MENAFN- Arab News) Several neighborhoods across Jeddah, including the Al-Marwa district, both the Haramain districts and the Al-Safa district, continue to suffer from lack of waste containers for disposing of household waste. This has led to disposing of waste haphazardly, which has exacerbated environmental pollution and which increases the risk of epidemics and diseases. Mohammed Mashoor, a resident in the Haramain district, says: "I previously lived in Mushrifah but recently decided to buy a new apartment for my family in the Haramain area. At the beginning, I did not notice the lack of waste containers on our street since I was too busy moving in. "When I came to get rid of large amounts of empty boxes, wrappers and garbage, I was surprised to find that there were absolutely no waste containers on our street. I had to dispose of the waste next to the building. Waste has continued to accumulate at the site over several days, which in turn led to an infestation of insects such as flies and mosquitoes, not to mention the unpleasant odors that emanate from the dump and its unsightly state." He continued: "I then found myself putting the waste inside my car and taking it to a street parallel to ours. I found a small waste container that was already full to the brim. I had no choice but to leave the bags alongside the bin. The problem just went from bad to worse. I contacted the hygiene department in the Jeddah Municipality, but nothing was done. "I then visited them personally and met with an official from hygiene management and explained the dire situation in the neighborhood regarding hygiene and the daily suffering we and the other residents of the building endure due to lack of waste containers on our street. The administrator promised me that the situation would be resolved by providing several waste containers in the street where I live and beyond. However, more than two weeks have passed and still nothing has been done." Sami Nawar, a spokesman for the Jeddah Municipality, said that the Department of Hygiene was aware of the acute shortage of waste containers in several Jeddah neighborhoods. He said the department would provide over 3,000 waste containers of different sizes (small, medium and large) in the next few days. With the city currently witnessing an enormous boom in population and urban development, nearly a ton of waste is produced on average a day.