Several parks that were built only a few months ago are drying out due to a lack of maintenance and care on the part of the concerned authorities. Citizens have called on the municipality to hold companies in charge of taking care of public parks responsible for their failure to carry out their roles. Many have expressed concern over such negligence toward these parks and fear that public parks will become deserted over time if trees die out and they are not cleaned and maintained.
Dead trees Citizens Khalid Al-Harthi asked why the municipality builds parks and signs contracts with companies to maintain and keep them clean only to neglect and not follow up on the performance of contractors. “The park in our neighborhood was built around six months ago and the trees are already dying because nobody irrigates them regularly, let alone takes care of them,” Al-Harthi said. He commended the municipality's plan to build more parks in Jeddah but stressed that the plan cannot succeed without proper follow-up with the contractors. “Parks are very important to families and children who enjoy spending time in a clean and dust-free environment. It is not right to neglect them like that. After all, the municipality spent a considerable amount of money on building the park, growing trees, putting up benches and fences,” he said. New parks Citizen Hamid Al-Jahdali said the park in North Ubhur and the one in Al-Samir neighborhood were constructed less than a year ago but today, the parks are in an appalling state as they are not cleaned and trees planted inside are withering. “I don't understand how something like this could happen. Parks have become an eyesore for the neighborhoods they are in. Why doesn't the municipality hold the contractors accountable for this negligence? I am angry because contractors are usually paid a lot of money to maintain parks and ensure they are well taken care of. Apparently, the contractors have failed to honor their duties in the contracts and therefore must be penalized,” he said. Citizen Abdullah Al-Nimri said the municipality is doing a good job implementing several mega projects, including the construction of parks, but agreed that more efforts were needed to make sure contractors perform the tasks they are paid for. “Authorities are exerting a lot of efforts to make the Bride of the Red Sea look attractive to its residents and visitors but I don't like the state and condition of some of the new parks. They require constant supervision, maintenance and care to reflect the beauty and character of Jeddah. It is high time the municipality took strict action against the responsible contractors who obviously are not meetingt their obligations,” he stressed.
