The Sad Situation of Sanaa City: When a Country’s Capital Turns to a Pile of Dump! [Archives:1999/32/Reportage]

Do you still remember how cleanly and tidy our streets were? Do you remember that old , nice habit of cleaning in front of the houses by their residents themselves? A nice thing, wasn’t it? There was a time when our streets looked shiny and free from dirt. But alas! Such days did pass. What you see today is a scandal. People refrain from cleaning outside their houses. They lay the responsibility on those in charge who lay the responsibility on the people. Here rises a question: who is really responsible for keeping our city tidy? To tell the truth, none are blameless.
In 1978, a project for cleaning the Secretarial Capital was formed. Up to 1984, the project was sponsored by the Dutch Government. After this time it was privatized. All the equipment was handed to private companies which failed in the given task. The result is clearly seen; heaps of garbage in every street and alley. Now, as the people awareness of the importance of cleanliness, the project was reformed by the Government. Ahlam Al-Mutawakel of Yemen Times met with Mr. Najeeb Al-Himiary, General Director of the project who said that all the equipment was taken back from the private companies. “The devices available at present”, he added,” will not do for the project which requires the availability of at least 300 devices. There are only 110 and all of them are out of date. So what really hinders us from doing our work properly is the lack of the up-to-date technical equipment, besides, the negative response of the people to the issue of cleanliness”.
Workers in the project do complain about the low payment besides their small number. In this regard, Mr. Al-Himiary said..”the worker’s salary is YRs 9000. We have 300 workers and 600 casual workers in the project.” “This number “, Mr. Himiary added,” is not enough due to the rapid growth of population.” When asked about the policy to be followed in the future, Mr. Najeeb pointed out that Sana’a would be divided into 6 districts to enable the Parliament members to take the responsibility of carrying out the project in their districts. He also talked about a suggestion of imposing fines on people who do not care about the cleanliness of the city. In addition, a number of new small garbage cans that children can easily use will be put in the capital different areas. ” We have started working in some areas but many other areas” Mr. Al-Himiary went on, “such as Shomailah, Taiz, Madhbah and other streets in Al-Asbahi City are not served. In the future we will be able to cover all the streets but we will have a problem with Hail Street which is covered with sewage. We would like the Minister of Construction and Housing and the Capital Secretariat to support us in this regard.” The General Manager of Machinery in the Ministry of Construction
and Housing, Mr. Saleh Al-Shaikh Salem, said that the Ministry had handed the project 20 vehicles, 500 garbage cans and spare parts. The educator, Ibtisam Al-Dhafry, has asserted the importance of the Capital cleanliness pointing out that the start must be in the house. The parents must be a good example for their children. ” Islam”, she added ” considers cleanliness a sign of well-education”. Besides this, Ibtisam Al-Dhafry pointed out that through the field researches it had made in some schools, The Women Voluntarily Meeting found it very necessary to make available a number of water tanks and garbage cans in schools.
The head of the Informational Committee in the Meeting, Mrs. Amat Al-Rahman Jahaf asserted the importance of keeping the environment free from the heaps of plastic sacks that threaten man’s health. She also asked for stopping the animals grazing in the piles of garbage because they spread it everywhere.
Ahlam Al-Mutawakel
Yemen Times
——
[archive-e:32-v:1999-y:1999-d:1999-08-09-p:./1999/iss32/report.htm]