THERE was a time in Jeddah when the Corniche was pristeen and a visit to Corniche was almost like a visit to the countryside. The Red Sea was clean, the water crystal clear, and families waded out into the sea without fear of contracting any kind of weird disease or bacterial infection. In fact, the only danger was inadvertenly grasping a piece of fire coral or stepping on a poisonous rock fish that lay in wait beneath the sand. Those days are long gone and a trip to the Corniche in Jeddah comes with a concern of inhaling who knows what kind of fumes that emanate from a Red Sea coast that looks and smells like a sewer. The joy of a family outing at the Jeddah coast of the Red Sea has disappeared. The initiative to clean up the coastline along Jeddah is long overdue and, as always, there is a two-pronged approach that must be followed. Making sure that Jeddah's sewage does not hug the coast will be the jobs of engineers and those with a vision for the future. Keeping it clean of rubbish, however, is the job of the very people who use the area recreationally. It must be made clear that littering will not be tolerated and stiff fines must be imposed on those not obeying the regulations. There should also be a community effort to clean up the mess we have made. Just as there have been contests to promote recycling, so there must be similar contests to clean up the coast. __
