Trouble in Paradise
The hubris of thinking that you can re-engineer a chunk of the planet to make a paradise... Infrastructure always bites you when you least expect it.
From the
London Times Online comes this story:
Sun, sea and sewage in the playground of the rich in Dubai
A noxious tide of toilet paper, raw sewage and chemical waste has transformed Dubai�s most prestigious stretch of shoreline into a foul-smelling health hazard.
A stretch of the exclusive Jumeirah Beach � a magnet for Western tourists and home to a string of hotels � has been closed.
�It�s a cesspool. Our tests show too many E. coli to count. It�s like swimming in a toilet,� said Keith Mutch, the manager of the Offshore Sailing Club, which has posted warnings and been forced to cancel regattas.
One of the problems:
There he discovered that dozens of sewage lorries carrying human waste from Dubai�s 1.3 million inhabitants emptied their tanks into storm drains such as the one leading to the sailing club. The drains, all connected, were built to carry excess water that falls during Dubai�s short rainy season.
According to some truckers � mostly poor workers from southern Asia � illegal dumping of waste is a purely financial decision.
In interviews, several said that they were paid by the truckload to collect waste from the city�s septic tanks and transport it to the only sewage treatment plant in the area.
This involved a long drive into the desert with lengthy queues at the end � so they opted to dump their loads in the storm drains.�We are paid so poorly, we have no other choice,� said one driver, who insisted on remaining anonymous.
Just goes to show that great wealth doesn't impart great management skills, wisdom or infrastructure...
Posted by DaveH at February 2, 2009 6:32 PM