JEDDAH, 20 October 2003 — In the biggest building spree that the city has seen for years, Jeddah is to be transformed into a massive development site, which will cost the city at least SR20 billion. According to the Jeddah mayor, Abdullah Al-Mouallimi, there will be new flyovers, underpasses, roads, redevelopment of entire areas, the preservation of the historic city center and new museums.
The urban sprawl northward will be blocked, and there will be massive development of south Jeddah, a new airport terminal and a mass transport system. It all adds up to the largest investment in the city’s infrastructure in over 30 years.
The city hopes that many of the projects will be ready by 2005, when Jeddah celebrates the 1,400th anniversary of the declaration by the third caliph, Uthman ibn Affan, closing the ports of Obhur and Shuaiba and making Jeddah the sole port of entry for pilgrims on Haj and Umrah to the Holy Mosques.
Speaking at a meeting of Saudi and French businessmen organized by the Cercle d’Affaires Francais de Jeddah (CADFA) on Saturday evening, Al-Mouallimi also revealed that the city, already twinned with Istanbul, will soon be twinning with a French city. According to officials at the municipality that has to be, like Jeddah, a seaport. The choice is widely expected to fall on Marseilles, home of the highest Muslim percentage of population in France, 17 percent compared to the national average of seven percent.
In all 70 projects are in the pipeline at a cost of SR1.5 billion. Many of them will have to be ready by 2005 in time for the anniversary. “We’ll add 10 more projects valued at SR400 million to SR500 million. Apart from these, there will be a SR7 billion sewage treatment project as well as water and electricity projects.”
He said the King Abdul Aziz International Airport (KAIA) would get a brand new terminal, “which will be much more efficient.” A sum of SR4.5 billion has already been allocated, he said. “Contracts have already been awarded,” he added.
International engineering-construction firm Bechtel and Saudi engineering firm Dar Al-Riyadh have been awarded a $1.5 billion contract to expand and upgrade the KAIA by the Presidency of Civil Aviation. The expansion project includes the construction of new terminals for international and domestic passengers, expansion of existing terminals, construction of 25 air bridges, additional parking facilities, a new access road, and the upgrade of landside and airside infrastructure. The project, which is slated to begin in the second quarter of 2004, has a completion target set for 2010. The expansion is intended to unify international flight operations of all aircraft, including those of Saudi Arabian Airlines, and facilitate the movement of passengers.
The project will also increase the capacity of the airport from 13 million passengers per year to 21 million passengers by its completion. KAIA currently handles about 80 percent of pilgrim traffic and 40 percent of overall air traffic in the Kingdom.
Prime aims of the municipality are to stop the urban sprawl, especially its spread toward the north, establish satellite towns, reactivate the city center, improve the environment and economy, especially the seafront, and enhance municipal services.
“The city will see no more streets blocked by rain. New drains will be built and main roads cleared of surface water within hours. The municipality will deal with undeveloped areas inhabited by squatters,” the mayor said, calling on the private sector to consider investing in such projects.
He said four or five museums were being built and should open within 12 months. The Corniche, especially its southern part, will be improved. Redeveloping and preserving the historic city with the help of private sector partners, the cleaning up of Arbaeen Lake — dumping of sewage will be prohibited after 12 months — and preventing gases escaping from the desalination plant are among the steps the municipality will take.
As part of the mass transit plan, two tram systems are planned. One is reported to be from KAIA taking pilgrims to Makkah Road, the other from north Jeddah to the city center along Malik Street. “Technical and economic studies are under way for these projects. We’re interested in French involvement,” he told the audience. A new building for the municipality is being built at the Corniche. “But we won’t move in until the e-government plan is ready,” he said.
Questioned by Arab News about maintenance rather than new projects and the fact that in Madinah Road there were some pot holes which had been there for up to three years, the mayor said that certain major roads in the city had not been under municipality jurisdiction, among them Madinah Road and Palestine Street. “These have now been transferred to the municipality but with no budget allocation. The municipality is now in charge of all roads in the city,” he said. Road maintenance will be a major project in the new fiscal year, which starts in two months’ time.
