IT seems that the residents of Al-Muqaitie District in the Dhiba region of Tabuk are on their way to joining the Guinness World Records, not as the most exquisite neighborhood in the world but as the first district that has filed a lawsuit against an electric pole. The residents claim that it was a municipal official who advised them to file a joint complaint against the electricity pylon so that the court would take a decision on this protracted issue. He told them that it would cost money to remove the pylon but the government would bear the expenses if a court ordered its demolition. The residents allege that because of its ill-suited location, the electricity pylon has caused many traffic accidents, especially during the morning rush hour when children go to school. The unseemly structure lies between two major schools in the district. The question that comes to my mind here is: Who is the oldest? Is it the pylon or the street? And who has transgressed on whom? When I read about the aspirations of the residents of this district recently in the Okaz newspaper, I felt that all their demands were simple and legitimate but were being ignored by the concerned officials. The residents, who are awaiting a court ruling on their lawsuit against the electric pylon, are also demanding that the yellow sodium-vapor street lights in their neighborhood be changed to bright LED ones to allow a clearer vision during the night. They have also said they have to go out of their houses every time they want to use the Internet or speak on the mobile phone because the network coverage in the area is very weak. In addition to the electric pylon and the weak cyber network coverage, the residents of Al-Muqaitie are also suffering because they do not have enough automatic teller machines (ATMs). The few ATMs in the area are always crowded with people wishing to withdraw, transfer or deposit money. The people of the district complained about repeated disruptions in water supply and frequent power cuts. They stressed the need for afforestation of their district to prevent the effects of sandstorms. They said the man who was awarded the contract to make the area green has abandoned the project and left the district. You can imagine the sufferings of the people of this area in Ramadan, which now falls in the hottest season of the year. I have never visited this district and I do not know any one who resides there. However, my heart goes to them in their lawsuit against the electric pylon. The municipal official who gave them the idea was very naive and so were the residents who listened to his advice.
