JEDDAH: A total of 11 old buildings on the verge of collapse in various parts of Jeddah have been demolished by a special committee of the Jeddah Municipality, director of Government Relations Department at the municipality Ali bin Muhammad Al-Ghamdi said. The houses occupied a total area of 6,163 square meters.
“The buildings were demolished on the instructions from Jeddah Gov. Prince Mishaal bin Majed in order to prevent any danger that might result from the collapsing of these constructions and the possible deaths of occupants,” he added.
The demolished buildings were located in older districts of Jeddah such as Al-Balad (downtown), Al-Sharafiyah, Al-Baghdadiyah, Al-Hindawiyah, Al-Rabwah, Al-Thaalbah and Al-Gamaa.
According to Al-Ghamdi, the committee on old buildings at the municipality looked at 70 buildings in various districts of the city which were about to fall and decided to renovate 32 other buildings which were also old and decaying but repairable.
The committee consisted of representatives from the municipality, the traffic department, the Civil Defense, the electricity company and the Ministry of Social Affairs.
Al-Ghamdi said during the past 18 months that more than 450 technical reports on the old buildings had been received including recommendations from an engineering office on demolition or repair. He added that data on these buildings usually come from branch municipalities, the Civil Defense and other private establishments.
“Stickers are placed on the old buildings warning the owners of the dangerous conditions of the construction and requesting them to come to the municipality to consider the issue,” Al-Ghamdi said. “If the landlords refuse to follow our instructions, then contractors working for the municipality will be asked to demolish the buildings and the branch municipalities will be duly informed,” he added.
The general coordinator of the committee Khaled bin Hussein Zaini said the obstacles facing the committee included refusal of landlords to come to the municipality to decide whether their buildings should be destroyed or repaired and the presence of non-Saudi occupants who might be illegal overstayers who have made illegal electric connections in the buildings.
“These buildings were built a long time ago. They lack appropriate architectural specifications and standards. They are often life-threatening for occupants,” Zaini said.
