A Diary of a New Town
This should help the roads as more and more people move in. It offers an entrance from the highway into Mangaf without stopping at any lights. Theoretically it should mean leaving Mangaf without any lights but I hope it doesn’t become another bottle neck we all want to avoid.
Looks like a good job that actually finished on time. I don’t know anything about their budgets but if they planned their finances the same way I’m sure the contactor did well.
Mangaf is looking significantly different with many houses under construction in what seems like a second boom after the roads. The blocks are outlined, the streets are numbered and water is now available for those who complete the tedious paperwork for connection to the mains. I jog here in the evenings and the level of traffic has increased – uncomfortably so in some parts – but it’s a sign of more and more people moving in. The mix is of many nationalities, from the east and the west. Even the Kuwaitis who have bought here are from all the backgrounds that make up Kuwait.
Another year or so for the final tidying up and this town will be a wonderful place to live.
It took me a while to realise what the mess was near the exit from 30. This is the largest diversion I’ve seen on a highway outside downtown Kuwait City. I think it will be a challenge for sometime. The plans for the bridge sound very exciting though, so it will be worth the wait.
The funny thing is that the project will take as long as we’ve been waiting for it. I first mentioned it in 2008 here, and again last year here.
Mangaf Beach was affected by an oil spill and has since received some attention. It was being regularly cleared over the past few weeks by KNPC. The final touches, which were by no means a small task, were carried out by a group of volunteers who organised themselves to be there for three hours last Saturday. Do please remember: the weather only started getting better this week, so the heat was also there with them! I was unfortunately unable to join (my sincere apologies) and I hope to be there next time.
On behalf of anyone reading this post, and indeed everyone benefiting from a clean beach, I want to thank Yuri Lipkov for organising the clean-up, and Yan Liu for keeping me informed. The group photo above is by Mr Akbar (KNPC) – Thank you.
The next clean-up is planned for down the road, Mahboula Beach on Saturday 30th October 2010 7am-10am.
Photo by BitJockey. More here.
I arrived this morning from a business trip. When I read on 248am and Nicole B blogs about a spill near the North Pier, I headed straight to the beach and saw the action there. There were two security cars. Having just arrived from 12 hour flight, the last thing I wanted to do is argue about taking photos. I chickened out – so please click the links in this post for more information.
With the terrible weather and the extra heat associated with road-surfacing, there has been a lot of activity at night recently. I took these shots outside our house a couple of nights ago. They started working around midnight and finished just before 4am.
