KUWAIT: The word camping is connected to winter in Kuwait. The Kuwait Municipality, as the authority responsible for organizing the camps, decides the period during which people are allowed to set up their camps. This period starts from the beginning of November and lasts till March-end. Although it is not November yet, still people have already started building their camps in the desert.
This early camping along with the frequent movement of vehicles in the desert and nature where the camps are being built will affect the possibility of plants that grow during this period, particularly with the recent rains. Khalid Al-Hajiri, Chairman of the Green Line Environment Group - Kuwait (GLEG), blamed the government and the Environment Public Authority (EPA) for their failure in protecting the environment from this illegal camping. "This random and early camping will cause sand and desert disasters next summer. People do not realize how badly such camping affects the environment and the extent of the damage from sand storms in summer," he told the Kuwait Times. "I advise the people to go back to the old Kuwaiti tradition of camping 'Kashta'. It is not really camping but is more like a picnic for a few hours in the desert or natural places without spending the night there. In fact, I can describe the present way of camping as a permanent stay or building temporary cities in the desert and hardly as camping. And this results in many negative impacts on the people themselves.
For instance, when they return home after a long weekend spent at the camp, they bring with them some insects from the desert to their homes," he added. According to Al-Hajiri, the Kuwaiti desert is already spoiled and damaged, and the government was not rectifying the situation in any way. "There is little nature in our country, and we have ruined the desert. So we should at least preserve what remains from the desert. The GLEG is a voluntary group and thus we have no authority to impose any sanctions against the violators. And I blame the EPA which has the authority to change the way camping happens and preserve the environment," he further said. He also praised the expats for their way of camping. "Expats are the best who only follow safe camping.
They visit the natural places, search for trees, and do BBQs, and they leave to return and sleep at their own homes. The main goal of camping is to stay in tune with nature far from the city and modern life, but here people are bringing all equipments including electricity along with them to the desert," explained Al-Hajiri. A majority of camps are dangerous and are used for breaking the law. "I do not see any positive effect of the Kuwait way of camping.
A large number of camps are for singles, and are used for immoral purposes, and sometimes even for committing crimes. By not taking serious action, the government is in a way participating in committing corruption. In my opinion, the present camping is a Kuwaiti non-organized luxury and irresponsible behavior of the community towards the environment. It is an environment, health, economic, and security disaster," concluded Al-Hajiri.
© Kuwait Times 2012
