ABHA, 17 February 2007 — The romantic scenery of the legendary Asir region is under threat as locals complain of both expatriate residents and Saudis dumping garbage and ruining the landscape. Many locals fear the dumping may escalate and claim there is a massive environmental disaster in the making.

Asir is a beautiful mountainous area located in the south of Saudi Arabia. The area, located between the Red Sea coastal line and a range of mountains, attracts tens of thousands of tourists each year. The climate in the region is wonderfully cool during the summer and it receives a lot of rain throughout the year creating lush greenery and woodlands.

However, many local residents are calling on the local authorities to take prompt action against illegal garbage dumping. Arab News visited dumping sites in Abha and Khamis Mushayt to get an overview of the problem there.

According to many people interviewed by Arab News, the way illegal migrants are living could be likened to a ticking bomb waiting to explode. Overstayers live in unhygienic areas that are littered with garbage.

According to local people, the biggest problem lies with the Saudis that hire the overstayers allowing them to thrive without giving due consideration to the dangers they pose to the environment. The number of overstayers is increasing and locals complain that there is no solution to the problem.

Toward the northern side of Abha is a garbage dump called Um Al-Rakb. The area is very unhygienic and thousands of overstayers work there. Many of them said that this was their only source of income and that they had no intention of leaving.

Arab News visited the area and witnessed the terrible conditions in which the overstayers live. Strangers are unwelcome and can be prone to being assaulted by the overstayers who are suspicious of people they do not know.

The area was saturated with overstayers rummaging through rubbish looking for things to recycle. We cautiously approached the area unsure what the reaction would be if they learned that we were journalists.

Soon a municipal garbage truck arrived and before it could empty its contents the overstayers flocked around it climbing inside like a swarm of bees.

The overstayers were clearly organized and worked in teams. There were groups collecting plastic, while others collected glass, some collected wood and so on.

On one edge of the dump yard the overstayers had built shanty homes from wood and aluminum. Their bosses sat at a distance monitoring the work going on. As we approached them they looked suspiciously at us. They were carrying weapons as if they were waiting for some sort of danger to approach.

On first glance one felt pity for them but these people are definitely in a far better position than they were back home.

A senior official in Asir’s Passport Department, who preferred to remain anonymous, said they are unable to put an end to the problem alone and need the municipality, the police and local residents to further cooperate.

“The difficult geography of the area makes our work even more difficult. We regularly conduct raids but end up making few arrests since people could easily escape into the mountains. It’s hard to take our vehicles there,” he said.

“They come here from Africa through Yemen. There are thousands here and they keep coming since it is hard to monitor the mountainous border,” he added.