JEDDAH: The Ministry of Finance responded on Wednesday to criticism from a Shoura Council member who claimed insufficient funds have been allocated to Jeddah for drainage infrastructure.
In a statement the ministry claimed that SR9 billion has been committed to the infrastructure development, the highest of any city in the Kingdom.
The statement comes in response to Shoura Council member Abdullah Dahlan’s column published earlier this week in Al-Watan newspaper. The ministry pointed out that some of the projects have already been completed in Jeddah while others are still under implementation.
The ministry referred to statements by the Ministry of Water and Electricity that upon completion of these projects, 95 percent of Jeddah would be protected from flash flooding.
The ministry also said in its statement that the adopted amount for projects in Jeddah exceeded SR2.2 billion during the Eighth Five-Year Plan, which expires at the end of this year.
The ministry said Dahlan should have done more investigation before issuing such allegations, especially that the government has put efforts and money to deal with the challenges of development and the environment in the Kingdom in general and Jeddah in particular.
Meanwhile, the Jeddah municipality started to excavate a third emergency trench on Wednesday to drain the rainwater lake that has sprung up in Al-Harazat area in Wadi Qous. It is estimated to contain some four million cubic meters of water.
The Jeddah municipality estimates the cost of constructing the proposed eight drainage trenches in Jeddah to be SR5.7 billion.
Although experts confirmed that these channels could be established within existing neighborhoods without resorting to eminent domain of properties but a preliminary study said more than 2.8 million square meters of buildings would have to be demolished east of the Haramain Expressway and in southeast Jeddah. The cost of demolition was estimated at SR700 million.
However, despite all the statistics, numbers and budgets set to establish a proper sewage system, the rain floods that took place two weeks ago has proven that the lack of organization was the main aspect of the crisis.
Over the years, there have been a number of announcements on sewage and drainage projects in Jeddah. In 1979, it was announced that SR600 million had been allocated and work started on a massive drainage scheme for the city’s main streets. This was to take up to six months to complete. It was also said at the time that many of the main ducts were already installed around the city. Four years ago, it was announced that SR20 million had been allocated to improve drainage infrastructure in the city.
There have been other reports. Just eight months ago, it was announced that SR210 million had been budgeted for Jeddah drainage, much of which had been completed at a cost of SR153 million. Further works were estimated at SR80 million.
