JEDDAH, 24 June 2004 — The Obhur Bridge project, the long-discussed connection over the mouth of the Obhur Creek north of Jeddah, has failed to attract sufficient private interest to go ahead in the foreseeable future. Reports in local newspapers that the Jeddah municipality had put the project on hold without explanation are premature.

The announcement of the project, which would shorten the distance from the north shore coastal end of the creek and the north Corniche by some 15 km, caused a sharp rise in land prices. Speculators looking for a quick profit from the project forced up land prices by as much as 50 percent and large areas of the north shore were marked out for development.

Al-Watan Arabic newspaper reported recently that the announcement by the Jeddah municipality to freeze the Obhur Bridge project that connects north of the area with the south caused the real-estate prices to drop. This caused voluble protests from speculators who saw their profit potential disappearing.

It seems that reports that owners of lands in north offered to build the bridge at their own expense were inaccurate and suggestions that the municipality had unilaterally put the project on hold were premature.

Deputy Mayor Muhammad Bamanie, who has responsibility for construction projects in Jeddah, told Arab News specifically that the municipality did not freeze the project. It was in fact never started for the very good reason that no investors came forward to build the bridge.

“The municipality announced the investment opportunity many times,” Bamanie said in a written reply to enquiries from Arab News. He said that tenders for the project were invited and the date for the opening of sealed bids was moved more than once to allow investors ample opportunity to submit offers.

“No one came forward,” Bamanie said. “The project was delayed because it is not the job or one of the priorities of the municipality to carry it out.”

The bridge project, said Al-Watan recently, was widely reported in the media. As a result, many investors in the land to the north of the creek benefited from the publicity by buying and selling tracts of land.

Bamanie feels that investors are victims of their own lack of interest. “The municipality is completely willing to meet with any serious investor who wants to discuss it with us and to carry this project through,” he said.

However, he offered one ray of hope for speculators. In the event that no investors are willing to put their bids on the table and commit to the building of the much-awaited bridge, then the municipality will consider putting the construction into the municipality budget. That, he said, would be in a minimum of five years from now.