Front Page Al Watan Daily Today 19th March, Salwa Park Mess

LWDLIK- I'm happy to see this get more coverage and know people in government are concerned.

Garbage piling in parks due to contractor's downfall
by Abdulaziz Al Mossalem.

KUWAIT: Speaking with Al Watan Daily, a source from the Public Authority for Agricultural Affairs and Fish Resources (PAAAFR) explained that the reason why many of the public parks in Kuwait have been neglected is due to contracting issues. The representative explained, "The company we had a contract with to clean up the parks has gone through financial difficulties recently and was no longer able to provide its services of cleaning up the parks, and this is why many of them are filled with garbage."

This statement comes against the backdrop of MP Waleed AlـTabtabaie''s criticism of PAAAFR''s handling of neglected parks earlier this week, when he accused PAAAFR of "not being able to shoulder its responsibilities."

The company has indeed gone through financial difficulties lately; it has been listed on the Kuwait Stock Exchange since 2006 and has at one point had a stock price of 1 Kuwaiti dinar. However, with last year''s economic turmoil, the company''s stock collapsed leaving it at just under 25 fils before it was stopped from trading at the KSE at the end of January. The company has been stopped from trading repetitively in 2009, putting it off the market for a total period of around 4 months.

According to PAAAFR, the most affected parks are those in Salwa, Rumaithiya, Mishref and Salmiya. The PAAAFR representative, who requested anonymity, explained that there have been some instances where they had to coordinate with Kuwait Municipality and form emergency teams to clean up the parks. However, she added that "the very next weekend, after we clean up the park with our emergency team, the parks are packed with garbage again because of irresponsible behavior by those that attend it."

MP Rola Dashti, speaking with Al Watan Daily on the issue, stressed this point and explained that "it really is unfortunate that these public parks are trashed by those who visit them. Just because they are for public use doesn''t mean they can go ahead and trash them ـ those leaving behind their garbage should be penalized for irresponsible behavior."

The PAAAFR representative also called on park goers to pick up after themselves and ensure the area is still usable after they are gone. She also added that PAAAFR has already found another company to clean up these parks, and is now going through the red tape of contract signings.

Al Watan Daily also spoke to some of the management of a fast food restaurant situated next to the Salwa park. The management explained, "We complained about the negligence last month, but not much has been done about it. On some occasions we get our own cleaners to clean the area around the restaurant because children play there; however the remainder of the park remains trashed."

The management also stated: "The reason the park is trashed is because the cleaners have not been receiving their pay. This is what the park's custodian has been telling us. Even he has not received his pay." Al Watan Daily tried to interview the custodian but he was not at his post.

LWDLIK- I really don't give a monkeys what the company did on the stock exchange. It's NO excuse. Get the park cleaned! If PAAAFR would like to have some flyers made in English and Arabic giving us details of telephone numbers where responsible park users can call and report such littering offences. At the moment no one has a clue where to complain. Just needs a few litter louts to get hefty fines and the rest will soon get the message.