The urban community garden know as The Secret Garden was completely destroyed a few days ago (before picture above, after pictures below). I heard about the news yesterday and was pretty upset by it. The Secret Garden was a perfect example of how an abandoned unknown park could be turned into something so beautiful with the help of a dedicated and passionate community. During the cooler months of the year people were encouraged to come by the Secret Garden every Saturday to either plant, paint, build or just socialize. Lots of parents brought their children who planted seeds and then watched them grow over the winter months. Every now and then you also had the Saturday brunches which brought even more people to the garden. It was such a great project and I was really looking forward to it again this year, but now I am not sure if it will be ready for this season.
You’re probably thinking the garden was vandalized by a bunch of hooligans which is what I had thought at first, but thats not that case. According to Mimi the mastermind behind the Secret Garden project, the garden was destroyed by the Public Authority for Agriculture Affairs & Fish Resources (PAAFR). They’re the same organization who a few years ago were laying out poison all over the parks and free trade zone to poison stray dogs (while at the same time accidentally poisoning peoples pets).
PAAFR reasoning behind the destruction was that the garden was dirty. Even though the Secret Garden wasn’t being used because it was the summer and there are municipality workers that are meant to clean the garden (the Secret Garden community clean the garden themselves during the cooler months), PAAFR decided it would be better to destroy the garden then try and reason with the community. The result? A catastrophic mess leaving the garden in shambles and disarray. They even had the garbage bins Secret Garden had placed removed and now the garden doesn’t even have trash bins for people to put their trash in. PAAFR also destroyed all the planting stations and just left them lying in the park with nails dangerously sticking out.
The Secret Garden community have been back at the park the past few days cleaning up the mess so they can start rebuilding the garden. I hope they’ll get it done in time for this winter season because it was one of the few activities I always looked forward to. If you want to stay posted on the progress then I would recommend you follow @mimikuwait
40 replies on “The Secret Garden Was Destroyed”
Government: “Don’t do anything before asking us first.”
But we did ask! And okayed!
but did you have it in writing 🙂
Yes, we (Mariam) did and does.
The secret garden actually has support and formal approval from the Government (including Ministry of Youth and Ministry of Commerce).
Sick.
Sorry I didn’t understand why it was destroyed because it was dirty?
Nobody does…
https://www.academia.edu/25189924/Cultural_activism_through_spatial_practices_walking_tours_and_urban_gardening_in_Kuwait_City
Cultural activism through spatial practices: walking tours and urban gardening in Kuwait City
Mimi is amazing. Nice, kind and hardworking. She’s just a ray of sunshine. I’m very proud of her.
“We begin by doing small things at the local level, like planting community gardens or looking out for our neighbors. This is how change takes place in living systems, not from above but from within, from many local actions occurring simultaneously.”
Thank you Mimi for everything that you’ve done and continue to do. Kuwait is lucky to have someone like me you!
Youth-led grassroots movements are rising! “Change comes from mobilized grassroots”
Well it’s understandable..these things lead to satanic rituals and devil parties, and that’s unacceptable in Kuwait. Also these meeting spaces encourage an increase in sexual appetite as men will be able to see women’s arms, eyes and so forth, it’s like these parks somehow promote abnormal human activity. Normal human activity for those who don’t know are work, sleep, ask for gods forgivness for living and empty life, and sleeping. Anything beyond that is just utterly ludacris.
Preach.
so, ISIS destroyed the park?
On a serious note, the Public Authority of Agriculture Affairs & Fish Resources is an actual organization
https://www.un.org/depts/los/general_assembly/contributions_fisheries/2012/Kuwait.pdf
hahahahaa, typical.
Its easier to use the religion and righteous argument when you spend your whole life sleeping and preaching and not WORKING.
Destroying a garden just because it was dirty!? That doesn’t make any sense at all. They could’ve just spent the same amount of energy doing a little sprucing up instead!
+1
Mimi, there’s nothing that makes sense about it except anger, hate and envy. Killjoys. That is all.
Chin up everyone, I applaud the people who are renewing the area despite the heavy handedness of the this government department. The Secret Garden benefits the community and promotes peace, serenity and a love of nature that the kids and adults can be an active part of.
I’m sure the Emir would be appalled.
Frankly I think they had a problem with the name and it’s connotations . So if they want to avoid future destruction of their secret garden I think they should use a less suspicious name than the word ” secret”.
Just my hunch .
Actually that’s not it at all.
The “garden” was in shambles.
Empty wooden crates strewn all over, rat infestation, and toilet parts that were supposed to be planted and maintained by “the community” but abandoned after the spring.
This “community” only like to take care of it when it suits them, i.e.: when the weather is nice enough for them, but of course they expect the Bangladeshi contractors to do it in 50 degree summer weather.
Responsibility is tough. Stop blaming others for your failures.
This stinks! This is total BS!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWRGE21DH54
kuwait lol
Wait, isn’t that land privately owned? Or is it an actual park run by the Government?
I am just heartbroken that my friends love, energy, dedication and hard work has been so callously, heartlessly and shamelessly destroyed. Mimi and the rest of us (and many others in the extended community) worked so hard on making the garden the special place it is. The jaded side of me realizes this is just typical and symptomatic of the ugly and bitter, destructive envy and abuse permeating Kuwait and Kuwaiti families. Kuwait was once a beautiful, gentle place (at least when I grew up in the 1970’s ) but now there is so much hate for no reason. Even when there is beauty and innocence it is struck down. I know very well that our wonderful Mimi and the rest of us will put it back together again. To quote Michelle Obama the voice of reason and reality in the most horrifying US election ever : ” when they go low, we go high”. And we will.
Because religion.
I am just heartbroken that my friends love, energy, dedication and hard work has been so callously, heartlessly and shamelessly destroyed. Mimi and the rest of us (and many others in the extended community) worked so hard on making the garden the special place it is. The jaded side of me realizes this is just typical and symptomatic of the ugly and bitter, destructive envy and abuse permeating Kuwait and Kuwaiti families. Kuwait was once a beautiful, gentle place (at least when I grew up in the 1970’s ) but now there is so much hate for no reason. Even when there is beauty and innocence it is struck down. I know very well that our wonderful Mimi and the rest of us will put it back together again. To quote Michelle Obama the voice of reason and reality in the most horrifying US election ever : ” when they go low, we go high”. And we will.
Welp, that’s Kuwait for you
They were monitoring it by satellites and must have noticed the roots of the trees about to strike oil, so better stop it before there’s a natural disaster,which would harm so many people,so they actually did a good thing .. I presume!
So maybe the point being made is .. basically the secret garden wasn’t such a “secret” after all !!
Speaking of dogs getting poisoned. I’m fairly sure its about to happen again thanks to this article in todays paper about stray dogs in Jaber Al Ahmad area.
https://alwatan.kuwait.tt/articledetails.aspx?id=504117
If someone knows Kpath, can you please ask them to intervene and save the puppies.
time to rename the place to “secret flatland” 🙂
PAAFAR were also the geniuses responsible for monitoring of racehorses when hundreds of carcasses were found strewn about the desert outside Ahmadi Equestrian Club. Horrible monsters!
The garden is dirty so lets just destroy it and make it a wreck 😀
Government at its best!
I dunno, this whole thing doesn’t make sense. I feel there’s a douchebag big shot behind this acting on his own personal interests. Similar perhaps to the asshole who wanted to destroy a public garden to build a transformer for himself (as far as I remember) and used the Baladiya to do it.
Feel bad about this. =( Its kind of sad. I remember I went there I think twice in August and it still looked nice. I was putting compost there in the bins. My wife also runs a community garden and its very much a trying process to work with the government to be able to maintain everything. If you guys need any help, please let me know and we will help out. Hopefully the garden gets rebuilt stronger and better.
I heard about it too yesterday and thought some hooligans did it. This makes me so sad and mad. Mimi and her team have been working on it so dedicatedly, unlike anyone I know. The secret garden has the best spirit and energy. But that wasn’t enough! Thank you PAAFAR for making it ‘clean’!!!!!!
Man what fucking idiots! It had Government sponsorship and was a boost to the morale and beauty of the community. Hell the Ministry even commissioned me along with Mimi to shoot videos about the place and all the good it was doing. And how does leaving the place looking like shit as opposed to the beauty that it was make sense when their reasoning was it was messy? So many Kuwait Government Workers are total shit. Can’t believe they actually even left the office or were at work long enough to do this!
The large empty plot of land right next to the garden is going for auction on November 29th for a starting value of 30 million KD.
I saw an advertisement for it today in AlQabas Newspaper (18/10/2016) on page 25.
PDF: https://alqabas.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/15582.pdf
Actually, after checking the Kuwait manicupality GIS website:
https://gis.baladia.gov.kw
The secret garden is not designated as a park, rather its 3 private properties.
Zoom in on the location of the garden to see how the plots are divided.