JEDDAH: Prince Mansour bin Miteb, deputy minister of municipal and rural affairs, laid the foundation stone for various development projects around Jeddah yesterday morning.
The projects include a 2.5-million-square-meter forestation program near the sewage lake in east Jeddah, and a garbage separation and recycling plant at the new landfill in Asla.
Prince Mansour also launched a number of road projects, including the ones at the intersections of Prince Majed Road with Abdullah Al-Sulaiman and Bakhashab Streets in the southern part of the city.
Prince Mansour said his ministry was still studying the possibility of establishing subways in cities around the Kingdom. “The plan requires meticulous study as it concerns many relevant and parallel supportive projects,” he said.
Prince Mansour said a separate agency, which is tasked with ensuring speed and quality, monitors all the development projects.
Adel Fakieh, Jeddah’s mayor, said that the green zone near the sewage lake would contain more than 200,000 different types of insect repelling trees.
“This project aims at effectively utilizing treated water from the sewage lake and creating a healthier environment,” he said.
The forestation project is expected to eventually diminish the rising groundwater level in the area as the municipality plans to plant six species of trees that absorb large amounts of water.
The mayor said the green zone would eventually become a big public park containing various entertainment facilities and activities for the residents of Jeddah.
The SR28.5-million project, which would reportedly consume more than 10,000 cubic meters of treated water per day, will eventually cover an area of 10 million square meters, he said.
He said it was one of many potential greenery projects that include a national park, a safari park and many other entertainment facilities that would cover an area of 100 million square meters.
“Currently, the municipality is working on the designs of those parks with the help of a local consultancy company,” the mayor said.
The new garbage separation and recycling plant being built at the Asla landfill will separate the city’s daily output of garbage, which exceeds 4,200 tons, the mayor said. The plant will have eight lines for separating domestic and industrial waste to prepare them for recycling.
