Of course, this would be the outcome of marathon studies and administrative procedures that have been going on for nearly 10 years. All these were happening under the guardianship of the Jeddah Urban Development Company, which is seemingly exerting efforts to remove bottlenecks and solve the crises facing development of Jeddah’s historic center (Balad). As always, Al-Sulaiman is wearing a mantle of guardianship!

There was a grand ceremony held at the municipal headquarters on Oct. 15 during which an announcement was made in front of a huge gathering about the formation of the CCDC as the smart and authorized developer of Balad. However, some disheartening factors have always stood in the way, hampering the development works and putting the launching in a labyrinth.

The JHC that is set to be launched “after Ramadan” would have a disintegrated entity, shedding its earlier legal form. Perhaps the JHC would be transformed into six or eight “mosaic” companies in various geographical regions with more decentralization and homogeneity. One of the major hurdles of the development has been the disparities in the areas.

These companies, emanating from the parent company, will carry the same name of JHC, but will be separate entities with financial flexibility and soundness. Each company’s board of directors would be headed by Al-Sulaiman himself and there have been reports that their executive chief would be the young engineer Osama Jamjoum. An IPO is also reportedly in the works.

The new alliance of companies as a special economic model would adhere into the concept of public-private partnership (PPP). Development of infrastructure would be governed by regulations and mechanisms with a room for government intervention. It also seems that there would be a higher committee, headed by the governor of Makkah province. The committee’s members include representatives of the Supreme Commission for Tourism and Antiquities, the municipality, the Ministry of Islamic Affairs and Endowments, the governorate, Public Security, the Saudi Electricity Company and the developers.

As part of removing hurdles in financing, there have also been reports that the deal with the Australia-based global financial agency Macquarie Group has been terminated.

Al-Sulaiman has asserted the solvency of the JHC and keeps reaffirming its economic feasibility despite spending millions of riyals to carry out feasibility studies. He announced that the move would make Balad a major tourist attraction and would create world-class businesses and residential and retail facilities, in addition to the revival of the historical and cultural heritage of Jeddah. It would also purify the nearby marine environment and reunite the city with the sea.

The studies put forward a vision of developing the historic center in the pattern of the city centers of several world-class cities, including Fez, Marrakesh, Barcelona, Aleppo, Istanbul and Berlin.

Al-Sulaiman has spoken about his romantic concept of a fully-fledged, knowledge-based tourist system through launching a series of projects, including museums, restaurants, showrooms, art galleries, heritage hotels and educational academies, of which one would be for heritage crafts and another for Islamic fine arts in the pattern of the Prince Charles Traditional Art Center of Abu Dhabi.

Also discussed has been a higher institute for learning the basics of Oriental cuisine and the Hejazi kitchen in the pattern of Le Cordon Bleu in order to attract boy and girl students from various parts of the world to stay and study in the heart of the city.

Al-Sulaiman also speaks about a town hall project that would serve as a center of a wide variety of popular activities and festivals in the historic center. The facility would be built by taking advantage of the most contemporary styles without losing its warmness. It would also provide an opportunity for all those offering their money and efforts to inscribe their names on its bricks.

Al-Sulaiman claims that all these modifications and features, no doubt, would expedite the arrangements to register Jeddah’s historic center as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This new vision of how the project should be divided, the phases of its implementation and savvy financing is essential to preserving and developing Balad.

Fine, we can now look forward to “after Ramadan,” and then to the end of 2010. But if there are no changes in the situation beyond that period we must come forward with a demand for the intervention of the higher authorities. This is essential at least to restoring the confidence of Jeddah and to fulfilling the aspirations of its people.

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