More than 60 young volunteers of both sexes participated Tuesday and Wednesday in a cleanup of their neighborhoods in south Jeddah as part of an awareness campaign held for the first time in the area. All of the participants were residents of the targeted districts. Covering three poor districts - Annuzlah Al-Yamaniyyah, Tha'alibah and Al-Qurayyat - the campaign was organized by Friends of Jeddah Parks Society (FJPS) in association with the mayoralty, the World Assembly for Muslim Youth (WAMY), the medical center of Al-Qurayyat District, the Women's Welfare Society and other charity organizations. The two-day cleaning event aimed to spread the culture of volunteerism among the people living in the districts and to put an end to the environmental pollution in the area caused by garbage left uncollected in the streets. The campaign was organized by the staff of Amerah Park and Faisal Sports Park which was established by FJPS in Al-Qurayyat District. “Most of the participants are teenagers,” said Mohammad Al-Shihri, Faisal Sports Park Supervisor. “They expressed their happiness in being involved in the cleaning campaign by their active participation,” he added. According to Mayan Al-Zawawi, programs director of Amerah Park, the mayoralty provided the campaign with equipment, such as gloves, masks, brooms and some cleaning workers to support the volunteers. The volunteers were separated into teams and each team, which worked for two days from 4 P.M. to 7 P.M., was sent to clean certain parts of the neighborhood. Districts in south Jeddah have been neglected by cleaning contracting companies for years and residents suffer from the pollution of uncollected rubbish bins. Saudi Gazette reported two years ago on the poor hygienic condition of the area where some residents are forced to wade through rubbish in order to reach the doors of their homes.
