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Kuwait Personal

They filled the hole!

I was on my way back this morning from walking my dog when I noticed a lot of dust coming out from the empty sand lot near my house. When I got closer I realized the local baladiya were there with two trucks. They were filling up the hole I posted about two days back! One large truck dumped sand in and around the pit while a larger bulldozer proceeded to fill it up until the hole disappeared.

That absolutely made my day. Thanks to everyone who helped out, I am sure the whole neighborhood really appreciates this. I also suddenly feel like I am in a real life scene from the hilarious TV show Parks and Recreation which means I should now try and convince the baladiya to turn the empty lot into a park.

Update: The Governorate of Hawalli responded with the following:

Dear Mark,

The Governorate of Hawalli would like to thank you for your kind efforts in pointing out an issue that has been causing distress to the surrounding residents of the area around the “hole”.

After receiving instructions from the Governor of Hawalli, Governorate officials contacted the appropriate officers at the Municipality of Kuwait – Hawalli Division – and notified them of the issue.

The Governorate has made sure that the issue has been dealt with immediately and accordingly, and followed up with the Municipality to ensure that the issue was resolved appropriately. We would also like to confirm that the hole, that was unfortunately used as a waste disposal site by many, had been thoroughly cleaned and the waste removed before being backfilled.

The Governorate of Hawalli has always tried to be on top top of such issues, and hopes that this would only be just one part of a cumulative effort that symbolizes a greater collective awareness, taking us one further step for a cleaner, and hopefully greener, Kuwait.

It is refreshing to find that such a sense of responsibility and care is still active in our beloved country. On behalf of the entire Governorate team, we would like to thank you all for your support, and the Municipality for their great work and quick response. Please rest assured that the Governorate of Hawalli will always try to tackle such issues in the future head on.

Of course, there are important lessons to learn from this experience. The strength of Kuwait is not found only in its government, but through the dedication of the people of Kuwait as a whole. It is truly found in the compassionate and caring hearts and the dynamic spirit of our citizens, residents and visitors.

Thank you.

I have to say I am EXTREMELY impressed! I am really at a loss for words. I thought no one actually cared about “old” Salmiya but it seems there are some people who do. I did not expect this. I’ve lived on the street for 30 years now and I’ve posted about my frustration before (here and here for example) but now I feel there might be hope. Thank you!

59 replies on “They filled the hole!”

WAW..Great job Mark, I Can assure how true is this saying “eza enta b’7eer jarak b’7eer” I used to suffer sometimes when i had to park there, going to my tailor in your residence complex.. I’m sure that what you did is greatly appreciated whether by residents or visitors to the same area..

everybody used to curse this .. but none had thought to be part of a solution .. YOU DID

So now, I wish you were our neighbour to fix problems that may occur in the future 🙂

I thought about that and I don’t think they did but hey, at least 450 years from now after the garbage decomposes it will help fertilize the lot which will hopefully be a park by then 🙂

Wow nice, congrats…
can you post about the rest of Kuwait.???
I will personally send you the photo’s if you want. We can all work hard, post links to our FB page.. spread the news. Change our status.. let’s use FB to something usefull for ones.
I am in.. yalla guys.. lets clean KUwait… or we like it Shit and GO…=)

Dear Mark,

The Governorate of Hawalli would like to thank you for your kind efforts in pointing out an issue that has been causing distress to the surrounding residents of the area around the “hole”.

After receiving instructions from the Governor of Hawalli, Governorate officials contacted the appropriate officers at the Municipality of Kuwait – Hawalli Division – and notified them of the issue.

The Governorate has made sure that the issue has been dealt with immediately and accordingly, and followed up with the Municipality to ensure that the issue was resolved appropriately. We would also like to confirm that the hole, that was unfortunately used as a waste disposal site by many, had been thoroughly cleaned and the waste removed before being backfilled.

The Governorate of Hawalli has always tried to be on top top of such issues, and hopes that this would only be just one part of a cumulative effort that symbolizes a greater collective awareness, taking us one further step for a cleaner, and hopefully greener, Kuwait.

It is refreshing to find that such a sense of responsibility and care is still active in our beloved country. On behalf of the entire Governorate team, we would like to thank you all for your support, and the Municipality for their great work and quick response. Please rest assured that the Governorate of Hawalli will always try to tackle such issues in the future head on.

Of course, there are important lessons to learn from this experience. The strength of Kuwait is not found only in its government, but through the dedication of the people of Kuwait as a whole. It is truly found in the compassionate and caring hearts and the dynamic spirit of our citizens, residents and visitors.

Thank you.

What about the rest of the people all around Kuwait who are having issues and have complained? Does it take a blog to get heard in this country?

Seldom do you come across events that make you stop and think. You noticed the hole and decided not to blend into the monotonous throngs, instead you “rang the bell” (as the arab saying goes). What is more surprising was the prompt, professional and extremely courteous reply from the Governate of Hawalli (which I was astounded to find in perfect English).
Not often do I feel REALLY Proud to be a Kuwaiti, but thus certcertainly ranks up there.

hey can u solve the issue concerning the digging through the streets of midan hawalli? man they digged all the streets to install new pipes without getting the pipes and then they started after one month installing them.. now they are doing the same thing under my building around all of it but wait that is not the problem.. the problem is that after installing the pipes they just cover it with sand without reconstructing the side walkes or the main streets.. I guess in winter there will be alot of pools in the streets unless the goverment act fast…

hope this reaches the goverment

This is sad…

Does it really need someone to post pictures of problems we have here in kuwait so that we see some action ?

Congrats to you mark, you are lucky.

I live in maidan hawalli, and i want someone to please come see the area…

The streets have alot of problems that have been there for more than 2 years …
and still there is no one to take any action or anything, our only coop is so small, and so dirty and so unorganized. A guy once told me that it has been the same coop unchanged for more than 20 years!
And its so dirty! garbage all around it! why is it that we get the short end of the stick ?

Do i really have to go take some pictures and post them online to get some attention in kuwait ?

I wonder why there is so much neglect and lack of interest in this area…

If the real Kuwaiti guys are reading this,please conduct a campaign of awareness to keep Kuwait clean,I think the government of Kuwait needs to show a serious face in this matter and well drive the point to the expat population also regarding keeping the environment clean.Plus there are no recycling programs, I thing the Government of Kuwait should introduce a bill in parliament to subsidize the growth of the recycling industry in Kuwait,no just dump everything in the ocean and land fills.

QualityNet first then the baladiya?

Do we need a blog to fix problems here?

I have lost faith in Kuwait -_-. Good job Mark on solving that problem!

My faith is being restored, nice response both in actions and in words. To the nay sayers, its nice to see something being done, whether it be through this forum or not, the fact that they took notice and resolved the issue is impressive. Yes there are problems that need to be looked at throughout Kuwait. Alot would most likely be due to people taking advantage of the fact that the people which need to resolve such issues, the baladiya, do not have eyes and ears everywhere and all the time. Nor would it be possible for Mark to take the time to bring these issues to light. If this kind of response can be brought about by bringing it to the powers that be’s attention. Then perhaps a public forum hosted by the baladiya or governerates, and the people that live there can post their concerns and gripes to bring them to their attention. One small step is all it takes, have faith, and anything is possible. My glass is half full now, not half empty, hope the rest of the people see the same. Be positive and hope for the best is the best course of action. Well done to all that got involved.

power to the people!!! great job MArk and Beladiya! you guys should keep going while the momentum is strong!

People should start a photo campaign and even create a map of Hawally pointing out garbage hot spots. The people alongside the beladiya can start taking these spots out together. Mutual cooperation can overcome all these problems.

Beladiya great response, keep it up and set the pace for the rest of the governnates in Kuwait! Respect!

Great job! I felt so emotional when I read the response from ‘Hawalli Government’. Its nice to leave in peace and harmony…makes us feel at home 🙂

Mark, it was nice of you to post such an article and it was even nicer to see the QUICK action from the Hawalli Government and the Muncipality…

Bravo guys!!!

Wow!!! Baladiya…Great job!! Now its my turn to ask the Baladiya to clear up all those illegally parked vehicles on Yousuf Al Bader Street in the open ground opposite the Nawara Restaurant in Salmiya…

Well Done MARK!! Clap Clap Clap!!

This blog is surely being watched by the kuwaiti officials and are taking it in the good spirit.

when are you going to post pictures from Jeleeb streets and open areas? its high time the place gets cleaned/cleared!!

Proud of both Mark and Hawalli Governorate. Even if its a small thing but it assures us that we are being heard.

A BIG ROUND OF APPLAUSE FOR THE GOVERNOR OF HAWALLI!!

After this impressive response, it’s great to know someone there is listening. It started with a hole, it could go to even bigger issues:) when should we start sending you photos of other miseries around? 🙂

Mark,

Can you also post about the fact that there are lot of secret night clubs and guys fighting on the road, in particular, in Salmiya?

One nightmare is garbage, but who will cleanup the night(club)mare?

well they still have 999.99999999 holes to fill… I have been here 7 years… how many years do it take to make a difference.
Take one example Salem Mubarak street, the street we all take our familiy when they visit.. as one of the best streets/area in Kuwait…
Check the buss stops, garbage cans, side walks, parking space next to MC-D.
Thank god they removed the old Pizza Hut builing.
Shame on Kuwait…, beeing one of the riches country in the world. And dont give me the speech that you just recoved from war.

You should google renovation !!!!

This is some great stuff! glad to see them take initiative and do something about it… im really impressed and pleased 🙂 really put a smile on my face reading their email.

Mark, now that holl problem is fixed maybe you would like to consider to tackle recycling issue in Kuwait . It seems that you have positive and instant influence on authorities .
Unfortunately , Kuwait is so behind in recycling. Even in a country like Iran which is not considered a develop country we use to receive colored plastic trash bags at our house doors. One for cans & paper, one for plastic, one for glasses. And recycled trash was collected every 2 weeks once. This was 15 years ago or more !!!!!

Dayam – that is impressive. You tha man.

Just wondering if they filled it with toxic waste containers first? 😉

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