Governor orders Makkah plan for poor neighborhoods

Makkah Gov. Prince Khaled Al-Faisal has ordered officials to prepare a plan to develop unplanned neighborhoods in the province over the next five years.
Chairing a meeting of the executive committee for the development of unplanned districts in the province in Jeddah yesterday, Prince Khaled said the upgrading of these areas should be completed with other developmental projects in Makkah and Jeddah.
Various government departments have offered material and human resources to support the project.
He also stressed the fact that residents in these poor areas should have their residency and work permits sorted out, as was the case currently with the Burmese community.
Those who attended the meeting included Undersecretary at the Interior Ministry Ahmed Al-Sinani, Undersecretary at the Justice Ministry Muhammad Al-Faeem, Makkah Mayor Osama Al-Bar and Deputy Director General of the Passports Department Maj. Gen. Abdul Rahman Al-Towaireqi.
Last year Umm Al-Qura University launched the Prince Khaled Al-Faisal Chair for the Development of Unplanned Districts in Makkah.
“The chair will help translate into reality the vision of the Saudi leadership to transform unplanned districts into modern urban districts with all infrastructure facilities,” Bakri Assas, president of the university, said at the time of the chair’s inauguration.
The project to develop unplanned districts in the province covers a number of neighborhoods in Jeddah, Makkah and Taif.
It is also expected that the development of unplanned areas will solve crime and socioeconomic problems, which have been affecting residents for decades.