JEDDAH, 17 December 2005 — Minister of Municipal and Rural Affairs Prince Miteb has issued the executive bylaws of the newly formed 178 municipal councils across the Kingdom. In accordance with the bylaws, the councils will monitor activities of their respective municipalities and work toward improving their services.
The municipal councils, which were set up as part of political reforms introduced by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah, will have a minimum of four members and a maximum of 14 members. They are given the authority to make budget proposals and review reports on municipal revenues and expenditures.
“The municipal council will also have the right to give its opinion on matters related to restructuring and reorganizing the municipality,” the bylaws state.
The councils will also give their word on the imposition or cancellation of municipal fees and fines. They will also make decisions on present and future local investment projects.
The municipal chairmen are required to present reports on municipal activities every four months and the councils will give their opinion on them. The councils can ask the municipalities to provide them with necessary information prior to discussing an issue.
“It will also look into the complaints and proposals of citizens,” the bylaw states.
Council members are required by law to attend meetings and are banned from disclosing any confidential information. They are also prohibited from profiting from their civic participation. Violation of these regulations, or arriving late for meetings three times in a row or six times in a year, will result in losing council membership.
The members of councils having 14 members will receive a salary of SR6,000, those having 10 to 12 members SR4,000 and those having eight to four members SR3,000.
Prince Miteb announced the names of members of the municipal councils on Wednesday. The announcement came as the Court of Grievances was considering a case filed by 20 losing candidates who disputed the results of the Jeddah elections claiming that “the golden list” of winners received illegal endorsements from prominent scholars. The court has set a Jan. 29 hearing in the case.
Ehab Sulaiman, agent of the candidates, Talaat Attar, general coordinator, and Jamal Burhan, member of the administrative committee, said yesterday they raised the case out of their conviction about “the danger” posed to society by alleged election malpractices.
Members of some important councils are:
Jeddah: The mayor of Jeddah, Ibrahim Al-Eissa, Ahmed Banaja, Basim Al-Sharief, Bassam Akhdar, Toufeek Ruhaimy, Hassan Al-Zahrani, Hussein Baaqeel, Hussein Al-Bar, Rabah Al-Dhahiry, Tarek Fedaak, Abdul Rahman Yamani, Muhammad Zainal and Muhammad Abudawood.
Makkah: The mayor of Makkah, Ahmed Al-Maurae, Zuwaid Al-Salmi, Abid Al-Hasani, Abdullah Al-Rashid, Abdullah Marzouki, Abdul Mohsen Al-Asheikh, Adnan Shafi, Faisal Al-Sharief, Mohsen Al-Omairy, Mubarak Al-Qurashi, Abdullah Al-Sabban, Nawaf Al-Ghalib and Mousa Al-Nahari.
Madinah: The mayor of Madinah, Anwar Al-Bakri, Anwar Ilyas, Hassan Al-Harbi, Hamza Hafiz, Suleiman Al-Raheeli, Sultan Al-Johani, Salah Al-Radadi, Abdul Aziz Al-Waqeesi, Abdul Aziz Al-Sarani, Abdullah Al-Khadem, Abdulmohsen Al-Ahmadi, Mohamed Al-Maghamis and Mohamed Al-Ahmadi.
Dammam: The mayor of Dammam, Ahmed Al-Moussa, Ehsan Abdul Jawad, Hamad Al-Baadi, Jamal Al-Muzeen, Khaled Al-Faleh, Khalifa Al-Dossari, Samir Al-Bayyat, Arif Al-Ashban, Abdullah Al-Qadi, Abdullah Al-Majdoue, Madhi Al-Hajri, Muhammad Al-Turki and Muhammad Al-Khater.
