JEDDAH, 25 June — The municipality will soon take measures to reduce crowding and congestion at the Corniche and no more Corniche land will be leased to private individuals.
The assurance came from New Jeddah Municipal Chairman Omar Al-Homaidan following numerous complaints that proliferation of tourist projects was causing great inconvenience to the public, often denying the not-so-rich visitors access to the delights of the sandy beach.
According to Al-Madinah daily, tourist projects at the Al-Hamra beach have made it impossible for the visitors to move about freely or find a comfortable place to sit and relax. The tourist projects, whose charges are uniformly prohibitive, are beyond the reach of the limited income people.
Domestic tourists, particularly families, find it hard to wade through the crowded pavements along the Corniche. While the beach and the sea provide an air of joy and festivity, the jostling crowd is nothing short of a dampener for the visiting family. The tourist projects — hotels, restaurants, amusement parks and you name it — have stolen the beautiful view of the sea from the visitors.
The same scenario was observed at the northern part of the Norse picnic point. Several families take their seats in front of the gates of tourist projects, as most middle class families do not have the money to gain entrance.
Most of the visitors go back frustrated often wondering for whom projects are being added one after the other.
Mamdouh Abdul Haleem and his wife said they used to come and enjoy the enchanting beach for several years. Things underwent a sea change since new projects appeared occupying most of the available space. Besides, the charges at the tourist outlets can scare anyone off.
Muhammad Khamis, another visitor, said the projects are large and attractive and so he used to spend half his salary to go in there. Later Muhammad taught his family to be content with the sight of the sea from a safe distance, without causing a dent in his pocket.
Khaled Al-Ghamdi, who was accompanied by his family, said they did not find any place to sit down. Most of the space is occupied by profit centers. "But for my children’s insistence we would not have come here." His wife said it was embarrassing to sit there as a family, crammed in the limited space sitting so close to total strangers.
Musa Al-Salami said he came out with his family from Riyadh with great expectations of visiting the famous combination of sun, sea and the sands. But where is the sea? It has become some one’s private property. Instead of tranquility and relaxation, the place offers nothing but tension and frustration. Its pleasures are now reserved for the affluent.
Another visitor Sabah Al-Salami was so disappointed that he said a journey outside the Kingdom would be much cheaper and more comfortable than visiting the Jeddah Corniche. The charges here are unreasonably high.
He once went inside a tourist project and it was his last as well. He felt that the restaurants and other facilities should cut down on their charges.
Fatima Al-Harbi felt the projects added beauty to the beach and were admired by the tourists who came prepared to meet the high costs. On the other hand, she said the place has unfortunately become inaccessible to ordinary folks.
