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Kuwait Personal

The Yellow Army

Yesterday I noticed a truck pulled up behind my house and around 10 street cleaners got out and instantly started cleaning up the streets. I then looked further down the street and noticed another 10 street cleaners were already busy cleaning up as well. I thought that was pretty cool since the neighborhood needed this clean up but sadly the people in my area managed to trash it again by the time I was walking my dog at night. It’s very depressing. The streets were all rubbish free in the morning but by nightfall the trash was back again everywhere. Not really sure what I can do about it, I was thinking about putting up signs telling people not to throw trash on the floor but I doubt anybody would care. This morning the army was back cleaning the streets again but I doubt it will remain clean by the time I get back home.

67 replies on “The Yellow Army”

The general perception is “I can throw stuff on the street and the bengalis will clean it up”

If you want to keep Kuwait clean, then the citizens should set the example. Expatriates will follow automatically.

Cajie there are no locals in my area, it’s the expats that are trashing the place. People think they can throw trash on the floor because it isnt their country, they don’t care.

Well I’m an expat. I usually throw the stuff in the dustbin as I can find one every corner. probably some do trash but not all.
and it’s never like they think they can throw trash coz it ain’t there country. that thought never strikes their brains. I’m sure of it. they throw trash anywhere in their country too. They are just Ill-mannered and uninformed. they just don’t see the harm in it.

amazing observation…..i always thought that it’s because it’s not their country. well, i guess i misjudged them. however, the other reason they do it is really annoying too. by the way, thanks for not littering 🙂

Mark. That is not an accurate observation. You have been to Europe and U.S. You will find the same people there. Why do they not trash the place there? Because the local culture dictates it. You stand in queue. You sort your trash and the put in appropriate container. You follow the speed limits while driving. If the local culture dictates cleanliness, then there will be cleanliness. It does not matter about the nationality.

Just visit any beach over the weekend and you will understand what I mean.

Well, of course it is YOUR observation. Never challenged that. Just mentioned that it is inaccurate (which it is)

“People think they can throw trash on the floor because it isnt their country, they don’t care.”

For the above observation to be accurate would imply that you can somehow read peoples minds or you have done extensive research by surveying all the people who trash the place and ALL responded with the above response.

If the above 2 did not take place then your observation is not accurate. It may not be wrong – but it’s not accurate because people do things for various reason – and one of the reason would be what I indicated.

Why to wait for locals why don’t you set the example by yourself!

all goes back to their house .. see how they were raised and on what standards!

I agree… But I dont think it is the Europeens As I have only seen arabs do it.. Mark you forget kuwaites are shopping in your area.

Well I don’t think nationality has to do with it. Its general disregard/disrespect for your surroundings; which is not bound by the color of your passport.

compare the areas where citizens live (Qadsiya, Surra, Faiha…) and the business areas where mostly expats such as Salmiya, Hawalli, Farwaniya… etc. and notice the difference, although they all have to be cleaned on daily basis.

Agreed. But no not all areas are cleaned on daily basis or the way it shd be. If you lived in expat area’s you would know the difference in the attitude of the baladiya. Having said that, I’m not saying that expats or Kuwaiti are the one’s who trash. Again there are many aspects to it. Generally a business areas where the expats normally live is also much more crowded and busy doing the day and night, increasing the chances of throwing trash than in say a residential local area, where there’s less crowd and people spend less time. So, thts not comparable. What really lacks is the awareness in this country, where people are not made to feel bad about trashing. I have this (terrible) habit of telling people who I see who liter to throw it in the garbage, many a times people are so embarrassed they do it right away and there have been times when I got literally cursed like ” who d F are u to temme ” and no judgement but those have always been Kuwaiti’s who went ahead and also said “You hindi”. Its not about being your country or not, where ever you live is home. Do you go to Europe and throw trash just coz its not your country? I hope not!

I do agree about the awareness issue, and I’m not saying Kuwaitis are neater or cleaner, it’s a matter of ethics, but unfortunately it’s way low in here, for both expats and Kuwaitis.

Where do you live?
normally kuwait is clean. very clean. you have dustbins everywhere & cleaners sweeping everyday.
the trash level is minimum. And in Kuwaiti areas (where you dont find us, expats) it’s crystal clean.

I’d normally find a used KDD milk box, chips pack or cigarette buds on the street. but they don’t last long. they are normally vanished the next day.

i don’t remember seeing a filthy place in kuwait ever.

Thumbs up to Kuwait for that.

No comments on farwaniya and Jleeb. I haven’t been there in ages. I live in salmiya. i dont see filth anywhere. atleast not in my area. yeah, agreed, the place looks all messy, not with trash, but with people and not so up to date restaurants and things like that.

Are there trashcans around for people to use? I am always amazed at the lack of trashcans around Kuwait.
I would suggest buying cheap plastic bins and tying them to lampposts etc everywhere in the area with a note to use them. I know from experience that it helps.

Except you can’t do that because the municipality (ironically, the same people that are charged with cleanup) will remove them as its against the law.

Its a great idea though.

The yellow ones are still there, at some traffic lights but they are put there by the municipality; not privately.

People just don’t care, thats the basic problem. Whats even worse are those guys who flick their cigarette butts/chips bags/tissues out the window and they land straight on your windshield.

Were I live there’s only one trashbin like 200lts capacity that the landlord put it for our 4 apartments villa and the rest of the street used too, so its pretty depressing every morning… plus all the construction material from the other villas… thinking of uploading a photo!!!

The problem is that the Kuwait Government is not so serious on the subject of Trash,Recycling or Waste Disposal.I remember the time during the invasion you had to burn the trash !!! .You could see fires every night…Expats are the main trash generators…there should be strict education to the expat children etc not to dump all the can and stuff around !.The has to be some thing done at the national assembly level.So much money goes into many stuff but not Waste Management, and the collect some money from the Expats for this and where does that money go ? No Kuwaiti cares !!!

ppl think jleeb is very dirty and stuff but tbhjleeb block ne is cleaner than salmiya its cleaned everyday roads are maintaned every 2 years new pavements and evrything…
but theinner blocks are fucked up totally

Jleeb is really messed up with all the drainage overflowing, muncipality doesn’t even cares for us expats, every building will be passed with basement parking and later this parking are converted into party halls, muncipality doesn’t even cares about it…. Salmiya is clean as there you can find few Kuwaiti’s and Western nationals

Well it’s more like salmiya has a decent crowd. Whereas, Jleeb, i need not even comment about it. People think twice before going to Jleeb, Hasawi and Jahra.

No point linking rubbish problems to Bdo or Hathar…they’re all doing it. Bdo, Hathar, Bdoon and Expats, they are all responsible.

When I see a kid throwing something on the floor I usually take the time to ask him/her if they would throw rubbish like that on the floor of their house…(you can image the types of responses I get). When I see an expat walking and dumping something on the ground, I tell them the least you can do to respect the country your in is throw your rubbish in the bin. I find that Expats as quick to retrieve their rubbish and put it in the suitable place than Kuwaitis (maybe Kuwaitis get offended or belittled when someone points out something negative about them or whatever). It just frustrates me so much that I just can’t ignore it.

I think Kuwait should have a HUGE campaign, something like Tarsheed for saving energy but for Littering instead. Something so big that would have an affect on people, chimes and songs that little kids can sing so that it sticks in their heads! It all starts with the kids… they are the future significant population of Kuwait.

They just take things personally, mixing emotions with common sense, which along the way was dumped in the trash!

Even though not having a trash carn is a factor, but it’s still not an excuse. If you have a can, bottle, plastic bag…etc carry it with you until you find one, I don’t think you need to travel to another city to find a trash can, you’re bound to find one, somewhere.

It happens almost in every country, but at different levels, ultimately, it’s the people who are responsible.

The problem is you have people driving around no matter where they live throwing garbage on the streets. Most of the time it is in the night but I’ve seen it done in broad daylight as well.

I’m a US Expat and I’m married to a Kuwaiti woman. Being around Kuwaitis I’ve seen how they could be perceived as ill mannered and such. However, it is the way they were raised knowing they will always have somebody to clean up after them. More & more Kuwaitis are beginning to take pride in their country but many more need to follow suit.

At the end of the day we are all responsible to keep Kuwait clean whether we come from Kuwait, India, USA, Europe, Lebanon, Pakistan, Phillippines, etc.

2 reasons why it would be trashed by night time:
1. People were not taught as children that throwing trash on the streets is against islam teachings. Also, they don’t care about the enviorment. Basically, the people in your street are bot very civilized.
OR
2. The workers aren’t very good, they only pick up trash when they see a car or people passing by so that the passer would feel bad for the garbage collector so he would give him a few KDs.

I have the perfect solution for you. It’ll take a bit of patience, but it would surely be worth in the end.

1. Get a camera. Try and photograph as many people as you can in the act of littering. It would be better if you could a good shot of them too. Make sure their faces are clearly visible in the photos. Do this as often as possible.

2. Create a new blog and post the pictures there. A facebook group might be a good idea as well.

3. Have your readers from this blog spread the images, or posts of the new blog, to as many people that they can via email. Shit like this will spread like wildfire in Kuwait.

You’ll eventually attract enough attention, and the local media will pick up the story. It will make the local news and people will talk about it. The government will try to address the situation soon after. If not, you’ll at least instill a new fear in people that if they do litter, then there’s a good chance that their pictures will be plastered all over the internet as a result.

@summer: dont be so foolish.

yes there are some cleaners who intentionlly sweep at nothin at traffic lights to make a few extra KD, but can you blame them?

the vast majority of cleaners are up at the crack of down when 99% of the lazy population are asleep and no one even acknowledges their existence.

I always feel a huge pang of guilt whenever I hear the garbage truck roaring down my street because they are doing a thankless job and they are the sole reason you get to enjoy living in your fancy neighborhood.

Then why don’t get up early in the morning and help out? It’s obvious that you’re not a part of that “99% of the lazy population”. These people are paid to do this. Simple as that. Yes, they are probably treated unfairly, and even underpaid, but that is a separate issue altogether. To say that what they do is thankless is just ridiculous.

Dig deeper….. the sewer system in kuwait is really bad….the bad smell in the city (near the holiday inn downtown) or messila … has been there for ages….

pretty houses from the outside, but….aouch!

I think the word expats doesn’t only refer to europeans and westerners only. Asians too are expats….and i agree that there are a lot of expats who doesn’t care living here well infact the country’s population of expats had ballooned. So if citizens doesn’t care of their own country then why will expats do the same… you know everything reflects on each person how he/she behaves in his/her own country.

I suggest that the government should come up with some sorth of a penalty for those dirty living creatures.

you know i have this issue at my home too.. and its just they don’t put garbage bags in the bins they just put them on the ground and the street cats make a mess and open the bags.. its disgusting.. and its a very residential area too.. from time to time when it gets really bad i put up signs (i put them in english/arabic and indian! :P) and it cleans up for a couple of days but gets back to normal..its really disappointing bs wala i wish i could do something that is more effective..

Why do people litter:

* They can’t be bothered or are too lazy to find a bin
* They have no sense of pride in their community
* There is a lack of education / poor parenting of young people
* If an area is already dirty, why bother to look for a bin?
* People don’t appreciate the consequences of littering
* We live in throwaway society with a ‘snack culture’ and too much packaging
* It’s not cool to use a bin
* Litter keeps someone in a job
* People aren’t aware that some items are litter eg food, cigarette ends, chewing gum
* It’s OK to litter if no one can see you!
* It’s OK to litter if you are drunk!
* There aren’t enough bins
* The bins are in the wrong place
* The bins aren’t emptied often enough
* The bins aren’t big enough
* The bins are not suitable for disposing of dog mess or cigarette ends
* The bins are dirty
* There aren’t enough fines for littering
* One person can’t make a difference
* It’s rebellious and anti-authoritarian to litter (is it?)
* Fast food outlets don’t care about the litter associated with them
* Everybody does it!
* The Council aren’t doing their job properly
* There are much worse things in the world to worry about than litter .

My favorites :
*There is a lack of education / poor parenting of young people
*If an area is already dirty, why bother to look for a bin?

Source :https://www.falkirk.gov.uk/services/corporate_neighbourhood/estates_management/litterzone/litter_strategy/litter_facts/why_do_people_litter.aspx

i always feel so annoyed when i see people littering! it’s disgusting! i think it’s partly because they don’t care as long as someone else will clean it for them, or it’s because they were not raised to keep their country clean. it’s actually really sad….im glad that you’re thinking about doing something about it, because it shows that some people do care. i recommend that you start by encouraging people you see littering not to litter. i’ve tried, and sometimes it isn’t effective, but hopefully some people will realize the error of their ways.

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