RIYADH — Thanks to the public's desire to see Saudi Arabia's urban landscape shining, the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs (MOMRA) was able to fix more than 42 percent of complaints it received within 24 hours over the past six months. Through a campaign titled "Raise Your Phone, Shoot and Send" launched 180 days ago, Minister of Municipal and Rural Affairs and Housing Majed Al-Hoqail motivated all citizens and expatriate residents in the country to monitor any negative phenomena in public places, roads and neighborhoods, and report to the competent authorities. Al-Hoqail called on the public to take pictures of any negative phenomena that they come across with mobile phones and send them to the competent authorities. The campaign aims to further improve the urban landscape of the Kingdom by removing all visual distortions, and thus advance the quality of life of its people. It also aimed to raise the level of municipal services in all regions and cities across Saudi Arabia. The campaign received tremendous support from the people who responded with effective participation. Al-Hoqail confirmed that the Balady application, which is running the "Raise Your Phone, Shoot and Send" campaign, has recorded a significant increase in the number of downloads during the period. "Your role is very important in improving the landscape of our cities," Al-Hoqail told the participants of the campaign. A large number of people have published and interacted with the campaign on the Twitter app after the minister directed them to monitor the most important signs of pollution and violations that harm the urban scene in Saudi Arabia. Al-Hoqail clarified in a statement that within 180 days of the campaign, the number of downloads of the Balady application reached more than 1.3 million, while the proportion of complaints that were fixed reached more than 89 percent, and the complaints that were fixed within 24 hours reached more than 49 percent. The public satisfaction after the Balady app responded to and handled the complaints increased from 35 percent to more than 76 percent. The number of whistle-blowers in the app has reached more than 200,000, while more than 20 partner service agencies have participated to expedite the processing of complaints.
