Here There and Everywhere

Sand Relocation Program

As you are driving along, or stopped in the gridlock of school’s-out traffic, have you noticed the bags of something along the road?

AdventureMan was asking me what that was all about. I said I didn’t know, but I had seen a bunch in front of our place, too. I thought they were full of sand. In Seattle, it might be about getting ready for winter, like sand for when there is a freezing rain or heavy snowfall or something, but that is so not remotely possible in Kuwait.

AdventureMan thought they might be full of trash cleaned off the streets, but they are packed too solidly or it to be trash.

We finally figured it out – it is sand, sand and grit removed from the streets AND, more importantly, from the drains, so that when it rains, the drains will be clear and the water from the (Insh’allah) heavy rainfall will have a way to run back to the sea without puddling in lower areas, as it did several years ago when a couple people actually drowned in Kuwait.

Kudos for the ministry in charge, for anticipating the problem and getting the drains in top condition now, in case it rains. Which ministry, I wonder? Public Works? Highways?

AdventureMan speculated, as he is known to do – what do you think happens to these bags of sand? Are they used as sandbags somewhere? Are they dumped in the desert? What would happen if you could tag a grain of sand, the way you tag an animal, and you could track it through it’s lifetime, where would it take you?

He calls this the government Sand Relocation Project.

October 19, 2008 - Posted by intlxpatr | Bureaucracy, Community, Customer Service, ExPat Life, Health Issues, Kuwait, Living Conditions, Social Issues, Technical Issue