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Hole full of garbage

I am 100% sure this can’t be legal or healthy. I live in Salmiya in the old souk on Salem Mubarek Street. Right behind my building there is an empty sand lot which is used as a parking by people coming to shop in the street. The sand lot is also used as garbage dump. It has around 7 regular sized garbage cans… and one big hole in the ground.

A hole in the ground! For some reason it seems the local baladiya or whoever is responsible for garbage collection can’t afford new garbage bins or something and have decided instead to dig a big hole in the ground and fill it up with garbage. Every morning a bulldozer comes and digs up the garbage.

Why can’t they place a large garbage bin or two or three more regular sized ones instead of digging a hole?

First of all the lot is heavily surrounded by residential buildings. Second of all there is a mosque just 20 meters away from the hole. Finally people use the lot as a parking lot. Salmiya is over crowded and lacks ample parking and people are forced to park in the sandy lot filled with garbage. At night the lot is pitch black since there isn’t any kind of lighting and people end up parking right next to all the garbage bins and holes. That can’t be healthy.

Hopefully by me posting about this maybe something can be done about this. It’s just too disgusting, I mean it’s a frickin hole in the ground that’s being filled with garbage!

50 replies on “Hole full of garbage”

Something will change. it always does.
We had the same problem in the sandy parking space next to Advanced Technology Company, and Laila Tower building. Laila Gallery people called Baladya and they came the next day and cleaned up. believe it or not, the big guys in Baladeya care, but it is the labor force that run day and night in the unbelievable heat who don’t care.

it happened more than 3 times, and now the whole area is fenced! no garbage, no parking. it is like big punishment, which i cant seem to disagree with.

The Municipality keeps renewing contracts for companies such as KGL and others who are not doing a very good job picking garbage up or offering citizens decent, new garbage cans – or even an alternative one with ‘Recycling’ on it, like most modern states. The KGL garbage cans for example are so small, most houses have overflowing garbage from them or have the garbage placed next to the can itself.

There are probably many interested bidders for cleaning contracts and they have GPS technologies, larger, more durable cans/garbage disposal units and greener technologies but the municipality are intent on renewing the same contracts.

Adil Safar keeps talking about ‘reform’ and the ‘best services’ but we have not seen any improvements in civic services in Kuwait; on the contrary a dramatic deterioration in all areas (BTW if you pay your utilities bill, youll notice a 10 KD plus fee for municipality cleaning service – we *do* pay them and have a right to expect better cleaning companies.)

Look at the Kuwaiti streets, even if you want to dump litter you cant cause there are no garbage cans and the ones that are available are those small plastic, cheap looking units that are stuck to traffic signals or obscure pavements.

It’s the like country *encourages* you to litter.

We needs new efficient cleaning companies in Kuwait.

FINALLY someone speaks up about this issue, thanks Mark. I am so frutrated over the litter situation you have no idea.. My new neighbourhood in Salwa is discusting I am embaressed to show my mom my new place when she comes next month.

A few weeks back I was walking infront of my building and there was this car parked on the other side of the street. Suddenly infront of my feet the driver throws a empty bottle of water. I picked it up and threw it back in his open window. YOu should have seen his face….loloo
he was like WTF, I told listen mister this is my street I dont want to look at your garbage!!! He was so stunded that he started smiling and asking me if I was American.. I told him now i am worse.. I am danish so take care!!!!

THis country amaze me.. how can you stand looking at garbage around you, infront of you shop, next to your house. In Abu dhabi there is litter signs on every traffic light.. here I have not seen one..!!

I ones incounted with a kuwait gurl from a very good familiy, we just finished off our drinks from starbucks, with under tray the whole lot.. she asked me to stop the car and she got out and put it gently on the pavement. I told her what your doing? She said no problem a bangla will pick it up later. You know what I did from the abowe story so no need to elaborate.

YOu need to educate people ( including the maids and drivers) about manners and propper conduct.. beacuse I am sure if you put the carbage can up under their nose they will still not do it..

Go mark.. I am with you.

Nice civic identity! You know, I’ve seen something similar in Dasman a couple of years ago, but it was an undeveloped construction site, and I remember seeing people throwing rubbish from the apartment windows into the makeshift dump. just like the medieval ages. I agree with d’fined, people need to be educated. and the services need to be maintained.

Civic sense is desperately lacking in Kuwait. It seems like so many people refer to one another as “bengali, hindi, masri, irani, kuwaiti” which ultimately desensitizes them from recognizing one another as humans. This dehumanization of people in groups is what’s causing this kind of fiasco. Before you throw a piece of garbage in a Kuwaiti colony, you’re going to think twice. But if you throw the same piece of garbage in Hasawi or Jleeb, most people wouldn’t give a damn as “the bengalis live there.” It’s sickening but I hope the arrogance subsides one day.

” I live in Salmiya in the old souk on Salem Mubarek Street ” :I Why not use Google map too ? :I Now I know where u live , Nyahhhaaahhhaaa >:)

LOL .

This is hideous and definitely a health concern. What is more concerning is that obviously no one is doing anything about it, but you! on another note, does anyone know the reason behind the “rotten egg” smell in Sharq? They say its sulfur, but does anyone really know what its source is? it is so bad fills out sharq in the morning and late afternoon almost everyday, people walk by as if there is nothing, trust me no one can get used to it!

I work near them in the KCSC I park there every day ;C . it stinks real bad !

Imagine falling into that hole at night.That would suck.
this happened to an old lady with her daughter , it took us like 45 minutes to get the van out !

it been there like for almost an year if am not mistaken

that hole has been around for a while, me and my mates had to drive around it back in july coz the parking was packed, and we were pretty close to slipping into it, so yeah, same situation, less experienced driver, they might end up in the hole with damage to the car.

i agree, khajoor. if we are all taught that we are all equal citizens, regardless of background, and are forced to respect our surroundings and each other, then maybe things could get better.
sous, the rotten egg smell in sharq is some kind of chemical that is in the soil. when they start excavating for construction, the smell wafts all over. even worse when it’s humid, hot and that smell is lingering.

wow !! r u serious !!?! a damn hole !! A HOLE ?! A GARBAGE HOLE?!!!!! MORE LIKE A SMELLY HELL HOLE!!!! call baladiya or something!! u could sue the ministry of health ! ITS A LIVING GERM-LIKE-HELL-HOLE!!! A HOLE WITH GARBAGE IN IT !!!! HAS KUWAIT GONE THAT BAD ?!!!!!!!
PEOPLE ! ITS A DAM GARBAGE HOLE!! ARENT U WORRIED THAT SOMEDAY THERE’S GONNA BE ONE RIGHT IN UR NEIGHBORHOOD !

this has been a common thing am noticing specially near the chalet areas … I talked once to the baladiya guys and they said they only pic the garbag bin .. they don’t bother collecting things around

Mark, can you email me better resolution pictures? I’m gonna contact Al-Watan and let them put those pics in the newspaper. Most of the time the issue gets fixed.

There are multiple issues here, the initial one of the actual hole should be dealt with severly. A simple slap on the wrist will most likely be the action taken by the authorities, when in actual fact, huge fines, losing the cleaning contract etc should be a more suitable course of action. You would not expect to see something like this say walking down Rodeo drive, Champs de Elysees or round the corner from Hyde Park. Why should it be almost a common occurrence in Kuwait. The problem does not end there though, and out of sight should not be out of mind, how the refuse gets taken care off once it is picked up should also be an issue. Simple land fills are not the solution, not only does it create a place rife for diseases, unsightly, but there is always the fact that liquids seep into the soil etc.
On another note, having seen the garbage collection schedules while living in countries outside and here, in the US where I stayed it was twice a week, I believe in the UK it may have been the same or similar. People have their own garbage cans for houses which they take care of, and get fined if there is garbage put out on days when there is no collection, or even if the garbage is overflowing. The amount of garbage and overall wastage of food and other things that get thrown out here, is ridiculous. If you are filling your garbage can on a daily basis then there is something inherently wrong with the life style that you lead and intimately will hurt this country. If I digress I am sorry, but it pains me to see this kid of thing happen here. It’s quite evident, if you go out to restaurants even in normal times you will see at many a time people over order their food, if it’s a buffet it’s even worse they will pile their plates high and end up leaving most of the food to be thrown out. You would think that this would decrease, or at least hope it would decrease during the holy month of Ramadan, where in actual fact it gets worse. I get sick to the stomach when I see these people line up in droves. Fill multiple plates stacked high then end up leaving the majority of the food to be thrown. If anything during this month people should be more aware of the needy both here and in other countries and have a sense not to do something after a day of fasting,sadly this is not the case and they do this repeatedly and without a care in the world. I have actually either crossed out going to quite a number of restaurants because these types of people go there and sometimes leave because I see them do those.
To take care of the immediate problem of this sort, you need to get to the underlying issues which are either inherent to the locals and the mentalities of people coming from outside with their own cultures. It’s not a simple issue, but take the example of Singapore, there are strict fines for littering and are enforced heavily, signs are posted everywhere, for littering,spitting anything that defaces the surroundings. Though I can’t imagine us here In kuwait to jump to that kind of control from day one, it should be something everyone strives for.

my god thats my building in the pictures, unfortunately only to the 3rd floor lol, you know til now almost 5 to 6 cars got stuck in that dump and one of them was the new Camaro!! man my heart goes for that guy his face was priceless poor guy.

First, such a site has to be considered a public safety hazard and then it has to be cordoned off, fixed and brought back up to the standards required. Are these definitions and actions achievable?

Absolutely disgusting. People here don’t even know the concept of even recycling!

For me I have to drive 20 mins to Ahmadi every couple of weeks to recycle my garbage because I have been unable to find any other place in Kuwait that accepts recycling.

The roads and garbage situation here is about 30 years behind other countries. Its unacceptable for a country with such wealth to even allow things to have gotten this bad, especially when they want to recognized as a ‘modern’ country.

Not only in Salmiya, this happens to a lot of places.

Hope someone do something about this quick!

ps. Thanks Mark for posting about this problem.

Well now that you pointed out that issue i’m sure people are aware of it now and will do something about it! it’s happening in many places in the world all you gotta is replace this hole with a trash bin! piece of cake

TK, you can have companies like Green Target come to your house and take your paper and plastic for recycling. no need to drive to Ahmadi like the old days.

The municipality is in charge of food testing, sanitation and garbage, permits for construction, health and environmental guidelines, fire safety guidelines, new housing areas and projects, civic planning, public gardens etc etc etc etc

Time to *break* it up into Authorities: Sanitation Authority, Building Code Authority, Food Safety Testing Authority etc

They just cant manage all facets of our life from food to environment to building codes – – they cannot.

BIG FIRE IS THE SOLUTION AND THE EASIEST WAY TO GET RED OF IT…WE USED TO DO IT IN 1990 DURING THE OCCUPATION ..try it :)…and take some photos of the party plz

it all comes down to people mindset, I have a trast can not far from my house, today there is complet old sofaset trown there, I dont understand how they can be so ignorant that they just leave the responibility on the street.

When ever there is renovation you can tell from the pile accumilating around the trashcan. In Eu we are heavly find if we dont drive our own shit to the landfield sorted.

With the size of Kuwait I would think they like to take care of it.

But I guess the same mentallity used in people’s houses with leaving the a poor maid to clean up after them is used outside the house.
And for sure a underpaid “slave” dont care about the land.

So WHAT we should do Mark… signature campain?
Media?

it look very dirty ,harmfully for public health. but meantime you should know that this is not only the fault of contractor , this is municipality responsibility to make sure that they have removed the waste from area and street are neat and clean. as i know the private co. are responsible to collect the waste only one time in a day that is also in the night. you can see the vehicle roaming aroung midnight.

now all the company submitted new tender with latest techonology and they increase frequency of collection but municipaliyt cancel the tender . so what ever we said its usuless for them .

In abudhabi you can see the develovement in waste management but thats only because of awarness in community and good monitoring by municipality & techonology used by companies

Thats crazy! the only thing worse would be a toilet hole Haha..wonder who the bright spark was who came up with this one! best of luck from Nz

I find people saying “we do pay them” quiet despicable, first of all, you pay 10kd a year, thats hardly enough to keep any company running, let alone, a company of KGL’s size, secondly, the root of the problem lies with the people who were willing to dig up that whole and stuff it full of garbage bags, not the baladiya…

Because, in the defense of the Baladiya, I once had a beach cleaning event, and the were the most corporative branch of government ive ever been to, it took me three minutes to get it all done, with minimum hassle.

Whereas my original sponsors bailed on me, because I refused to give them the right to give out leaflets, which is strikingly odd, seeing that we aimed to clean a beach, not to turn into media who*** or sell outs, plus if one leaflet were to be thrown away, we would set a bad example..

now part of my criticism is also aimed at the baladiya, for not enforcing tough environmental and eco friendly laws. I can cite many examples of law enforcment keeping checks on people who litter. Muscat, Oman, is the 2nd cleanest city in the world after singapore. There muniplicity spends less money than ours, yet its world class and very effective. This is generally because, if you litter, you’ll get hit with a 50 omani riyal fine, equivalent of roughly 40kd.

some may argue that this wont work in Kuwait, but, remember when new regulations and rules came out, about speaking on a mobile while operating a vehicle? Everyone in Kuwait, went out and bought hands free sets, including politicians who were running for office in april/may 2009. Once everyone realized that law enforcement werent doing their jobs, we all started talking on our phones again. I remember for the first few weeks, Id lower my phone through conversations while in my car when passing a police vehicle. Now a days I pass by check points while talking on my phone, smoking a cig, and trying to find my car registration and license.

Theres my 2 cents on this whole issue. Thank you and godbless.

If only there was a serious recycling campaign that is taken seriously by everyone then promblems like this will go away.

also, there is a reason as to why Kuwait is considered a third-world country….and this is just one of the reasons why.

Welcome to NEW SALMIYA My Friend

from your location and the picture taken from it seems either you live in “Al Angery” complex or in the Italian laundry building.

nice place to park your car 😛

Thanks for the most unbiased and informative comment in this blog. I’m tired of every comment in this blog being Pro vs Anti Kuwaiti.
I want to say this isn’t an isolated issue nor is it only happening in kuwait. Living in a good neighborhood in Portland Oregon i see back up garbage cans which you could smell a mile away and they’re right behind the bus stop i use to go to school.

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