While it might be the Bridges of Madison County that attract attention in the US, it’s the sewers (and lack thereof) in Jeddah that cause comment. Here, Arab News is pointing to an exceptionally unseemly practice by some who empty their sewage holding tanks or septic systems at the doorways of those they dislike.

South Jeddah witnesses sewage war
Abdullah Al-Muwallad | Arab News

JEDDAH: Neighbors in the south of Jeddah are turning to an unconventional kind of biological weapon to settle their differences — sewage.

Residents have been using waste to block the front doors of those they have a dispute with, often to devastating effect.

Countries often use oil and other precious minerals to fight their political wars, while other nations would block an important sea route to exert their influence. However, this so-called sewage war is a new phenomenon.

In the southern Jeddah district of Ghulail, many people are complaining about sewage blocking their roads. However, this was not due to sewage truck drivers forgetting about the area.

Some residents in the neighborhood said they are releasing their sewage on the street to punish their neighbors for something they have done, which includes refusing to contribute financially for hiring a sewage truck to empty the underground waste tank, or simply because they are fighting amongst themselves in the same building. “The sewage war is an old type of war and unheard of for people who are living in the north of Jeddah. It is an effective weapon,” says Abdu, a Saudi man in his 60s and one of the eldest residents in the neighborhood.
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Saudi Gazette/Okaz reports on another sewage problem affecting a girls’ school. The article notes that the neighbors responsible for not emptying their sewage tanks properly are having their water cut off by the municipality until they pay fine and get their systems in order.

Girls’ school surrounded by sewage water
Rami Al-Sulimani

JEDDAH – For 10 days in a row, sewage water has surrounded a girls’ high school in Al-Safa District in Jeddah, causing much distress for the staff and students.

“The 34th Girls’ High School on President’s Street was not really presidential today,” one female student said.

The residents had earlier complained about frequent leakage of sewage water around the school, but the district municipality had allegedly turned a deaf ear.

Girls were seen on Wednesday jumping over the streams of sewage water as they left their school at noon.
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Infrastructure in Jeddah needs a lot of attention. As the November floods demonstrated, putting things off until they becomes crises isn’t effective management.