Green is bad

The beautiful Slider Station garden was destroyed by the baladiya. Another victim of the green is bad campaign…

Thanks B!

Nov 15, 2009

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62 Comments, add your own...

1. billq8 | November 15th, 2009 at 6:21 pm

it looks ugly now ….wtf ?>?> why is baladiya not allowing green ??
FIRST COMMENT
2. Faris | November 15th, 2009 at 6:45 pm

That’s ridiculous!
3. Environmental | November 15th, 2009 at 6:46 pm

stupid!
4. akbar | November 15th, 2009 at 7:06 pm

debatable. correct me if am wrong but dont you all think it was encroachment of govt. Land, looks like a walkway, that lead to the wipeout from baladiya?

the owner of the building should have a blue print of his legal land and what is that of baladiya. If its private land that was raised to bits,thats objectable, else pushing your luck in the name of green.
5. Stafa | November 15th, 2009 at 7:10 pm

other countries put so much stress on its people to plant more, but in Kuwait…
6. ChuBBy-Doll | November 15th, 2009 at 7:12 pm

IT IS STUPID .. instead of couraging ppl to plant them they distroy it all … bad bad bad
7. wi-fi | November 15th, 2009 at 7:22 pm

yeah thats what i am talking about ..

coz i wan worry if this wont reach every one .

now its FAIR .

:)
8. Kirby | November 15th, 2009 at 7:37 pm

This is ridiculous!! What is wrong with these guys? Can’t they just leave these trees alone and ACTUALLY encourage people to plant them?

Correct me if I’m wrong..but wasn’t there some excessive advertisement about planting trees and making Kuwait green? Talk about fail and hypocrisy ;(
9. filily | November 15th, 2009 at 7:43 pm

They should ask owners to kindly remove their property mo chethy hamaj! i didnt even know restaurants are targeted

We should go start a Plant a Plant protest on the spot and each places a plant within that area

tom @ 6? anyone up for it?
10. Yousuf M | November 15th, 2009 at 7:46 pm

I strongly concur with #4!
If you are going beyond your boundaries of your land and you plant outside the “your owned” land, then it is illegal in even other countries (personal experience @ my uncles house in the UK)

I am not telling they should raid the gardens but the owners should consider the place in the first place!
11. filily | November 15th, 2009 at 7:55 pm

Yousef houses extending beyond their boundaries are done for personal self-serving reasons and it is not right. This is different for the reason that its there for the public to enjoy
12. Sami | November 15th, 2009 at 8:00 pm

If they care so much about public properties, why don’t they destroy all the illegally built chalettes?
13. Explorer | November 15th, 2009 at 8:00 pm

filily, it wasn’t made for the public but for the restaurant’s clients

that being said, there should be another way to proceed with regulations
14. Mark | November 15th, 2009 at 8:05 pm

you CAN’T plant illegally. If a plant suddenly grows in the desert should the baladiya cut it down? How is planting on public property a bad thing? It’s not like they are building a hut or destroying government property. They are helping beautify Kuwait.
15. Explorer | November 15th, 2009 at 8:29 pm

Mark, if the restaurant just planted for the sake of it, that’s one thing.

But they planted in order to enlarge their own space and actually placed tables and chairs there their clients thereby using public space for private commercial use.
16. Nobu | November 15th, 2009 at 8:30 pm

As horrible as it may seem, I can see the manucipality’s point. By planting trees that form a de facto green FENCE on public land, you are effectively appropriating that land and denying public access to it. These trees did not grow accidently. If nothing is done, every owner of a resturant is going to use public pathways to form a terrace for his establishment. This is against the civic code of nearlly all cities in the world. If you want to use public land for a private function, you will need a permit. Its done in Switzerland, Germany, UK, and the list goes on.
17. Mark | November 15th, 2009 at 8:31 pm

There wasn’t any room for tables or chairs, it was bushes and trees
18. Mark | November 15th, 2009 at 8:33 pm

Here is how it looked 2 years back when they first launched and the trees had just been planted
http://www.248am.com/images/sliderstation1.jpg
19. filily | November 15th, 2009 at 8:50 pm

yeah it wasnt used to increase their serving tables. just plain greenery.
20. Meeso | November 15th, 2009 at 9:00 pm

It government property!! Public side walk! You can’t just break a side walk and do whatever the hell you want with it!!

Lets all go out and break side walks, then randomly plant them to benefit our businesses!

Greenery is no excuse for steeling public property!
21. Bigz | November 15th, 2009 at 9:01 pm

Baladeya is doing that for a reason that most of Baladeya workers don’t know and others just forgot that; and it is:
So pedestrian have a lane to walk.
BUT Ya Baladeya YOU ARE NOT GIVING ANY ADVANTAGE TO ANYBODY with your actions.
You are JUST DESTROYING LOGIC.
and how about an option of giving the store a reasonable fine? (if the owner would prefer that!).
and where is FAIR and JUSTICE between people?
I think this is made to charge people with rage and hate!
22. Indian | November 15th, 2009 at 9:52 pm

Guys… there are many ways to penalize the land lord if it is encroachment. I have seen this many times across the year… Today, I have seen something similar, this is behind the National Bank of Abudhabi located in Sharq near to the Burgan and NBK head offices. The place was an open space and found two guys cutting the branches of the tree in the open space… Not sure if it was baldiya, but I do not see anyone else has an interest in cutting it…

Cutting trees are not something which is very promising for the future…
23. KuwaitQ | November 15th, 2009 at 10:02 pm

Thanks for the post Mark..

Although i am not happy seeing what rare plantation Kuwait has being destroyed ,i am definitely in support of that the country’s government regaining its authority on the people…

whether its plants of stupid Chinqu this action was greeted by a smile on my and many kuwaiti faces

Thanks MB ;)
24. sdjfj | November 15th, 2009 at 10:21 pm

WHAT A SHAME
25. Mannie | November 15th, 2009 at 10:54 pm

It is really sad to see.
26. Ali M. | November 15th, 2009 at 11:02 pm

there is this family that put plants along the entrance of Bnaider a couple years ago.. they made the entrance look sooo much nicer than just plain sand… Baladiya bulldozed away all the plants because they didn’t have a permit..
27. Realist | November 15th, 2009 at 11:24 pm

Wasn’t the bushes on the outside of the seating area for the public ? how was that a violation ?! This country is going down if it keeps fighting even the rare things that are plants.
28. hilaliya | November 15th, 2009 at 11:33 pm

Is the baladiya going to replace the sand with bushes and grass – if it is, then remove it, otherwise what it did was sad and pathetic.

Every merchant or house owner has the right to beautify the space in front of their domicile or business within accepted legal parameters (which the municipality doesnt even know or agree on).

Or maybe they want to force the whole country to buy that ugly pink brick from that ‘monopoly’ instead of planting trees and grass.
29. AK | November 15th, 2009 at 11:46 pm

you cant claim a land by planting grass on it. No one is stopping you from planting a tree on your own property. Its the law, move along.
30. KAA | November 15th, 2009 at 11:48 pm

I think that if we have a law we must respect it and do not include any emotions in our judgement. I really like slider station, but since the law says that there are some violations, these violations should be removed. If anything is wrong with the law it should be changed instead of blaming the committee for doing their job.
31. Hessa | November 15th, 2009 at 11:58 pm

Baladeyah should go and walk down the streets of Jleeb Shyoukh .. Better off than wasting time on removing such pretty things for the sake of .. WALLA HATHAIL TA3ADEYAT 3ALA ARATHEY IDAWLAH :s !!
32. Pyyth4 | November 16th, 2009 at 12:58 am

Maybe the baladiya thought they were encroaching the sidewalks ?

Whatever the reason be….they should try their best to leave the greenery alone.
33. Nawaf | November 16th, 2009 at 1:09 am

Yeah and the funniest thing is they have started taking down the communication towers for mobile companies, now I wonder why they started that ????

Maybe cause none of them are owned by Kuwaitis anymore?

Wataniya – Qatari investor
Zain – Indian
Viva – Saudi

How sad is that ????
34. Mark | November 16th, 2009 at 1:14 am

http://www.buzberry.com/?p=10731

Check the picture there. The garden wasn’t blocking any pedestrian path
35. Ali | November 16th, 2009 at 1:26 am

I feel like they’re only doing this because they can and because it’s the easiest thing to do. They have no reason whatsoever. It’s not like the plants grew in the middle of the street; they were neatly trained and trimmed on the side of the curb in the so-called “strip” parking lot.

The baladiya basically has nothing good to do but tear down gardens. It’s an immature act. They need to find something else to do to prove that the baladiya is a working department in the gov.
36. victim | November 16th, 2009 at 2:47 am

this is dumb. i am a victim of their wicked ways. They make dumb claims that no one would common sense would make, and then they destory things. Whats wrong with these people? They tear down trees that are not 1.5 metres into the curb. Even if it harms no one or blocks their vision.

if they are harming someone okay..but this is just plain dumb.
37. seouldout | November 16th, 2009 at 5:08 am

These few green areas on gov’t land detract from the overall landscape theme of piles on rubble on gov’t land. Think of the basic landscape design ideas of color, form, line, scale and texture. The striking contrast of lots a piles of grey rubble interspersed with patches of greeny life is design discord – like mixing polka dots and stripes. This disharmony will certainly have an adverse impact on Kuwait’s feng shui. Moreover, think of all the hard work that went to put the rubble there. Now think of all the extra hard work that would be required to change the landscape to one with plants and other “attractive” things. For the benefit of whom? The public?! Who’s going to do that?

Lastly, some keen observers have commented on the legal aspects. Spot on. Ignoring the crimes of planting, fertilizing and watering on public land will surely lead to greater crimes by the public. Fortunately we live in an orderly and law-abiding country…for the time being. But give ‘em an inch and they’ll take a mile. The gov’t ought to add more rubble to the public lands to make it more difficult for these ne’er do wells to plant their grass, shrubs and trees. Adding more broken glass and barbed wire to the rubble composition ought to dissuade all but the most hardened criminals. Hands off Mr. Green Thumb!
38. DaLLy | November 16th, 2009 at 6:47 am

Believe me it will be back!
39. shibi | November 16th, 2009 at 7:11 am

Great comment by seouldolut (#36).
40. jo | November 16th, 2009 at 7:55 am

people dont walk in kuwait lol…. they have drivers or their own cars so to remove the plants was pointless.

planting trees and having greenery helps clean the air and in a filthy dust dump like kuwait its is a must!

kuwait is so protective of its land that even when you fly in all you see is the tombstone buildings side by side, nothing welcoming about it.
41. organic kuwait | November 16th, 2009 at 7:57 am

why!
42. Equalizer | November 16th, 2009 at 8:06 am

I have a few clarifications for those with legal concerns. First, the plating was made on the outside perimeter and not used by us nor is it blocking any passage. It was done to beautify the area. Secondly, the seating area is fully licensed by the baladiya.Thirdly, the demolition was done without prior warning or notice. Fourthly, They left a big mess behind them without any cleanup. Was that better looking for the public ? The strip was in such a big mess and it is still is that the baladiya completely neglected any form of cleaning or beautification. We had to do our part of beautification.
Encroachment is where usage for personal or business purposes is evident which is clearly not the case. This is certainly a country of law, but there is not a single law in Kuwait that regulates and defines that public greenery is a crime. The committee is actually incentivised by the amount of trucks they fill with removed plants. In the absence of any clearly defined law, this leaves it to their own judgement. I guess they found our garden too pretty and tempting to remove, and completely ignored the rubble and litter all over the city. Encroachment is wrong and unlawful, but public greenery should be welcomed. The absense of greenery rules and codes should not mean the absence of any living plant. Western countries welcome planting trees and we completely avoid it.

P.S. Watch the replay of Taw Allail on Watan TV on this subject matter. There is a major public outcry.
43. Om Sheikha | November 16th, 2009 at 8:24 am

Thanks for being gutsy enough to post these pics.
44. gabry | November 16th, 2009 at 8:45 am

Encroaching public land can never be justified whatever purpose it was done for. In this case to create a better ambiance for a cafe. The buzberry photo clearly shows that they were encroaching pedestrian walkway. If slider station people are so bend upon making Kuwait green, have they planted trees in any other places other than in front of their cafe? Will you allow some one to plant trees in your compound cos it makes the area beautiful.
45. Isaac | November 16th, 2009 at 9:05 am

No!! I call for a petition!!

We should all get together and address the government on evironmental awareness, CO2 emissions, the gulf’s pollution and what they’re doing to Kuwait’s green!!

This is just wrong in so many ways!!
46. Explorer | November 16th, 2009 at 9:34 am

Mark, @ post 34 from buzberry:

Earlier today, the trucks of the Anti-Encroachment Committee came and knocked down the outdoor [i]seating area[/i] of slider station without previously warning the owners. According to one of the owners, the committee representative wanted to demolish the entire [i]outdoor seating area- including the chairs and tables[/i], but one of slider station’s staff managed to move the chairs & tables before the process of demolition had begun.

As you can see above, the [i]outdoor seating area[/i] is now smaller than before.

_________________________

from the above, one concludes that there was a seating area encroachment.
47. Explorer | November 16th, 2009 at 9:37 am

And yes, the garden was blocking pedestrian path, as I remember when I went there 2 weeks ago, if you wanted to move along the sidewalk, you had to step into the parking area which was full at that time.
48. Ramez | November 16th, 2009 at 11:06 am

WTF
Mark you should go to Al Rai, just behind Mercedes and near by the Friday market, And you will see more than 100 Trees has been taken out without any fucking reason
49. Moobs | November 16th, 2009 at 11:41 am

In Hawalli, near ASK, the fucking idiots uprooted about 20 trees, each at least 30 years old.

@Explorer, BIG DEAL! Step into the parking area, its not gonna kill you.
50. Explorer | November 16th, 2009 at 12:44 pm

Moobs, while sidewalks are a necessity, having lesser seating at Slider Station is actually what won’t kill ya.
51. Holla | November 16th, 2009 at 1:02 pm

As usual no person in power cares so NOTHING will happen just like nothing has happened before, why do people still get surprised in this cuntry?

Honestly In the future this country will be so hot and polluted it will actually be hazardous to live here and who would want to after all the oil and money run out and the population, filth and corruption increase? The kuwaitis will be the first ones out hahaha might as well enjoy it while it’s still here and suck every last drop of the resources out while you still can. This is what people ACTUALLY DO but don’t realise it or they can’t admit it because it’s so fucked up.
52. Big Moe | November 16th, 2009 at 1:10 pm

If you dont own that piece of land or it isnt included in your rental agreement, just dont use it.

For seating, greenery, or even charity .. Just dont use it!
53. Big Moe | November 16th, 2009 at 1:12 pm

That said, they should have done it in a better manner.
Giving prior notice to the owners wouldnt have hurt.
54. D'fined | November 16th, 2009 at 1:26 pm

I wish they would put as much attention to the garbage situation in this country .. I have to see it all over the streets walking to my car… piles after piles. But no… removing trees are more important.

Backwards land
55. ½ Cream Milk | November 16th, 2009 at 1:52 pm

a3teqed enna fe sebaab moqne3 7g ele ga3ed ye9eer !!
56. ½ Cream Milk | November 16th, 2009 at 1:52 pm

* a3teqed enna MAFEE sebaab moqne3 7g ele ga3ed ye9eer !!
57. TweeZ | November 16th, 2009 at 2:05 pm

i think everyone should watch FernGully: The Last Rainforest

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FernGully:_The_Last_Rainforest
58. dalal | November 17th, 2009 at 9:30 am

My grandmother planted little pulm trees in the dessert infront of our shaleeh and it was really cute she tells the chalet keeper not to forget about them and she comes every weekend and water them and its hard for her to walk to them they were scatered all around the dessert , they were like her lil children ,, then suddenly we came one weekend and the were all gone those small little cute pulm trees all broken the scene was what can i say like a war went on that land . ok it wasnt used for private reason or to fence a land!! they were scattered randomly !!!!
NA7ASA ELSALFA !!!
it all started when a wise member asked to remove houses extending beyond their boundaries and every body knows which and who does that in Kuwait !! i don’t want to go more further because every body knows . and i’m not stereo typing !!!!
and about the greenery its there way of getting back at us for putting that law like chalets desserts and nice public places like slider station !!
guys most of you know that 80% of them appeared to have two passports , then why don’t they go back where they come from they are like leeches .

NABY DERATNA EL QADEMA :(
59. abdulaziz | November 17th, 2009 at 3:23 pm

agree with dalal + no comment 3ala il ezala :@
60. mjkout | November 17th, 2009 at 8:51 pm

They suffer from the Hulk syndrome..
61. huda mamdouh | November 20th, 2009 at 11:33 am

on nature: kuwait is almost completely desert and people that try to greenify it are wasting a very limited resource called water that’s subsidized by the government with the ecosystem paying the ultimate price. stopping excess use of water is the way to go and not trying to make sand dunes green.

an exception are plants that are naturally adapted to desert climes and need little water. these can and should be left alone where found.

on economic exploitation: slider station and its cohort should respect that they are not paying for the space outside their perimeter and should seek formal permission for anything beyond what they have ‘rented’. its easier for the shisha smokers to see the girls too now so it should get more interesting.

that’s not to mention those cute pilipinas that you are exploiting in the store.
62. Amenah | November 20th, 2009 at 6:18 pm

I do agree with Akbar! However, the Government can just claim the land and use it for its benefits (aesthetics) without destruction!

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