JEDDAH, 18 December 2006 — Jeddah Mayor Adel Faqeeh announced yesterday that the city’s sewage network project, worth some SR7 billion, would take from five to seven years to complete. He said that Jeddah had suffered from the lack of a sewage system for the last 30 years and also poor infrastructure that delayed projects.

“During the last year, we’ve been working on the infrastructural elements that will guarantee a correct start to the sewage network,” he said. The mayor was speaking to the media at the Hilton Hotel at a workshop about the role of media and the municipality in developing the city.

Faqeeh explained that it had taken a year to set up a specialized company to handle the sewage work and also to provide more than 250 supervising engineers who will make sure that the work is done correctly.

About Jeddah’s unrepaired streets, he said that the budget was not enough to complete all the required road work.

“The estimated cost of street renovation is about SR1.2 billion while we have an allocation of only SR100 million,” he said. The municipality is utilizing its resources as much as possible, he said, adding that work on main roads was proceeding according to plan.

“Within the next two years, all the main roads in Jeddah will be smooth and fully maintained for safe driving,” he said.

The mayor praised the press, saying that it had brought many significant matters to public attention.

He also said that if the press wrote stories about the municipality which were not accurate, the fault might very well lie with the municipality since it had failed to provide clear and accurate information.

The municipality, he pointed out, was ultimately responsible. In order for accurate information to be available, there must be both human and financial resources as well as connected data banks and references.

“The municipality must provide the media with correct information,” the mayor said.

Faqeeh also announced that the municipality would soon establish a specialized media center in order to provide a link between the media and the municipality.

The center would help in regulating a constant flow of municipality news and would give answers to media personnel to help them in their reports.