JEDDAH, 19 September 2005 — Residents of Baraka Bin Thalaba Street in Al-Bawadi District are preparing to move tents and cars into their local park in order to stop contractors hired by the Saudi Electric Company from tearing it down and putting up a large electric generator.
Omar Al-Shabani has been a resident of the street for over 30 years. He and his neighbors have all contributed to the park over the past years by pooling their money to create a safe place for their children where they can play and their families can meet and relax.
From their own incomes over the past 30 years, residents of the buildings surrounding the park brought in soil at SR700 per tractor, planted trees, dug irrigation channels, set up swing sets and erected fluorescent lighting.
Last week, the Saudi Electric Company’s contractors moved in with a bulldozer and began destroying the park. Residents of the area immediately complained by phone to the Jeddah Municipality; the municipality sent an inspector to the park to find out what was happening. When he arrived at the park, the inspector found the demolition in progress and discovered that no permit had been issued authorizing the demolition. According to residents, the inspector threatened to seize the tractor and forced it to stop working and leave the property.
Yesterday, however, residents woke to the sounds of construction equipment and found that the contractor had returned. In a short space of time, several palm trees had been uprooted, the swing sets and lighting had been torn down and the irrigation channels had been cut. Omar Al-Shabani, a Saudi Airlines customer service representative, has taken it upon himself to put a stop to the destruction. “I am going to sit here, either in my camper or in a tent and stop them from destroying this park. That American woman sat outside Bush’s ranch in Texas to protest the war. Like her, we will sit here until the electric company decides to stop,” he told Arab News. “My children and my neighbor’s children grew up around this park and played soccer here daily. During Eid, all the families get together and contribute food so we can sit together. This park is the heart of our community and often brings us together. By tearing it down, property values will go down and our children will have to play in the streets. We are expecting the contractors to try again tomorrow. It seems as if they are doing it in stages. They come for an hour and run off when the municipality comes. If they continue like this, by the end of the week, this park will be no more. If they stop now, however, I will begin from today to replant and repair the damage they have done,” Al-Shabani concluded.
