JEDDAH: The Jeddah municipality launched yesterday a public contest for the best proposal for solving a problem in the city.

Arwa Al-Aama, head of the municipality’s electronic communications department, said the contest aims at building a communication bridge between the municipality and the residents of Jeddah, both locals and foreign, to identify problems and table solutions.

The contest, which lasts until April 8, is the second citizen-participation initiative taken by this municipal department. A photography contest was held earlier this year.

This contest asks locals to take pictures and comment on a certain problem that they see in their neighborhoods or around the city and then submit the proposal to the municipality’s website: www.jeddah.gov.sa.

Al-Aama noted that the municipality is currently studying an initiative that would involve the city’s residents in a voting scheme to determine needed projects around the city.

She noted that the municipality is increasingly utilizing the Internet to facilitate and expand services both internally and to the public.

Al-Aama said the status of some official applications can now be monitored through the municipality’s website.

“Our goal is to provide most of the municipality’s services and their monitoring through the Internet by the end of the year 2010,” she said.

She also noted that the municipality’s website has the highest number of daily hits compared to other municipalities around the Kingdom and “even Dubai.”

“We have more than 2,000 hits per day,” Al-Aama said, adding that most of the website visitors come to check the status of their applications and to get information about the city’s events and projects.

The previous contest, Al-Aama said, was a big success. Hundreds of local amateur and professional photographers participated in the event.

Winners received prizes in addition to trophies and an appreciation letters signed by Jeddah Mayor Adel Fakieh.

Both contests, in addition to upcoming ones, are part of a municipal initiative called “Let us hear your voice.”