“The instructions are that all residents of the two districts should be provided alternative accommodations and it should be done either by purchase or lease until the completion of the construction of houses for the residents of these neighborhoods,” the Saudi Press Agency reported Prince Khaled a saying.

Prince Khaled issued the order when Jeddah Mayor Adil Fakieh met him at his office in Jeddah on Wednesday.

The meeting was attended by undersecretary at the governor’s office Abdul Aziz Al-Khudairi and a number of officials of the Jeddah Development and Urban Regeneration Company (JDURC), which is responsible for the rebuilding projects of the unplanned neighborhoods in the city.

The authorities decided to develop the undeveloped districts because of the poorly planned streets, unauthorized constructions and a social environment that is perceived as providing havens for drug dealing and other criminal conduct.

Fakieh, who is also chairman of JDURC, briefed Prince Khaled on the plan to move residents of 8,000 housing units in Khuzaim and 3,000 housing units in Ruwais district. JDURC’s plans also include providing 50,000 housing units in two residential suburbs to be constructed outside the city. One of them will be in the south of Jeddah and the other in the northeast.

According to JDURC estimation the number of housing units in all unplanned neighborhoods was more than 200,000 while the deficit in the housing units in Jeddah at about 83,000.

The governor was also briefed on municipal projects, under the supervision of JDUC including the construction of affordable housing units, a complex for government offices and the diplomatic quarter project.

The municipality has also planned a project to develop permanent headquarter for the celebrations and a heritage village.

Allaying the fears of residents of the unplanned districts to be rebuilt Prince Khaled said on an earlier occasion: “All residents in undeveloped areas will be compensated in a just and satisfactory way; the status of those who have been living illegally for years in the buildings — and not those who overstay after Haj or Umrah — will be corrected. They will be given substitute dwellings in new suburban housing and provided employment opportunities, education and health insurance that will guarantee a dignified life to them and their children.”