A heap of rubble is all that remains of the Al-Nawras amusement park on Jeddah’s Corniche on Tuesday. (AN photo by Marwan Al-Johani)

JEDDAH, 10 December 2003 — The Jeddah municipality has dismantled the Al-Nawras amusement park, a popular landmark on the Corniche for 10 years.

The SR450,000 lease of the plot expired last year and the municipality rejected all applications for renewal.

Khaled Saeed Bawazir, the owner, told Arab News Makkah Governor Prince Abdul Majeed had asked that no action be taken to dismantle the park until the courts issued a final decision on renewal of the lease. Arab News has seen a copy of the letter signed by the prince.

Bawazir said the municipality told him it wanted to clear beach space in the public interest but continued to lease the areas around Al-Nawras to other private operators. Bawazir believes private interests are at play. Operators of business on adjacent plots, he says, want parking space for their customers.

Moments after the demolition, a representative from Bawazir’s office said: “The owner of the adjacent land has a great deal of influence. He used his powerful connections to demolish our business. It is in his best interests that our land is cleared so that he can expand his own construction project.”

The loss to Bawazir is estimated at around SR15 million.

“That is absolutely untrue,” a spokesman from the municipality said. “We have decided not to renew Al-Nawras’ lease, simply because we feel the land could be put to better use.

“There are plans for a more aesthetically pleasing project for visitors to the Corniche. It’s all about beautifying the Corniche.

“The building that has been demolished has been an eyesore for years,” he added.

Abdullah Al-Saqeeh, Bawazir’s lawyer, said the case was still pending in court.

He added it was unfortunate that the municipality decided to go ahead and demolish the park before any final decision had been issued by the court.

He also echoed his client’s opinion that personal interest is at play.

Jeddah Mayor Abdullah Al-Muallami told Al-Madinah newspaper no restraining order had been issued, and the municipality therefore started dismantling the amusement park on Monday.

When shown the Makkah governor’s request to halt the demolition, he said it represented a “former” state of affairs and “other decisions” had been taken since the request.

Over 50 employees of the park stood by yesterday morning as their place of work was torn down. Muhammad, an Egyptian employee of the former recreational park, could barely hold back his tears. “I have worked here for 10 years. We don’t know what’s going to happen to us or to our families.

“Sheikh Bawazir has been good to us over the years, and I am sure he had the welfare of his employees in mind today as he watched his business being torn down.”

But Muhammad Al-Mutairi, a regular visitor to the Corniche, said: “I’m glad that it’s finally been torn down. I hope to see a more attractive structure or beach there in the near future. The building was old and had to go.”