RIYADH: Saudi Arabia has finalized plans to launch an ambitious public-private partnership initiative to generate SR4 billion funds within next four years to support municipal projects.
“The Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs has agreed to set up a holding firm to generate the money to finance the development projects in Riyadh, the fastest growing Gulf city; which has reported an 8.1 percent annual population growth and a massive increase in the number of vehicles on its roads,” said Ibrahim Al-Quaiyid, a municipal councilor, here on Thursday.
Al-Quaiyid, who won the 2005 municipal elections with the highest number of votes, said that the 14-member Riyadh Municipal Council was closely working with Prince Miteb Ibn Abdulaziz, minister of municipal and rural affairs, on the initiative to ensure better municipal facilities for people in Riyadh. He said that the capital city would undergo massive demographic and infrastructural changes in near future. Al-Quaiyid, who is also a member of the National Human Rights Society, said that the capital city would undergo massive demographic and infrastructural changes in near future.
Referring to the need to map out a future strategy for Riyadh and to offer better municipal services to the general masses, he said that the municipal councilors across the Kingdom in general and the Riyadh Municipal Council in particular are focusing on the strategic planning, priority setting for municipal policies, community engagement and outreach programs.
He said that the Saudi capital had emerged as the fastest growing city in the Gulf. The fast growth in traffic, the need for better sanitation and to provide all basic amenities are some of the concerns expressed by the municipal councilors, he added.
Riyadh, he said, was an automobile dominated city and not pedestrian friendly. “The Riyadh municipality has also initiated a pilot project that aims at creating pedestrian zones in the city,” he added.
These pedestrian zones consist of widening the sidewalks and providing them with attractive paving, street furniture and trees in the capital city. “Not only this, the Riyadh Municipal Council headed by its Mayor Abdul Aziz Ibn Ayyaf Al-Migrin, have launched several plans and programs, which will go a long way in providing better facilities to the people of all the 15 municipal districts of Riyadh,” said Al-Quaiyid. To this end, he also singled out Riyadh Municipal Council and said that the councilors had been holding public meetings on a regular basis to hear the grievances of the people in different municipal districts.
“A similar meeting is planned after the holy month of Ramadan,” said the councilor, adding that nine such sessions have taken place on past occasions. The ministry, he said, had also deputed an official, who sits in the office of the Riyadh Municipal Council every Tuesday, to attend to public complaints and redress the grievances. Asked about the terms of office of the municipal councilors, he pointed out that all 1,212 municipal councilors including 606 elected councilors were now eligible to work for another two-year term.
“The councilors will receive their monthly allowances, ranging from SR3,000 to SR6,000, and perks depending upon the size of the regional municipal councils and their workloads as usual,” said Al-Quaiyid.
All councilors will be in office until Saudi government prepares the new charter to govern municipal councils and makes an announcement. On the achievements of the elected councils during the previous four-year term, he said that a large number of projects, plans and studies were carried out with the help of the councilors across the Kingdom.
