DAMMAM, 3 January 2003 — Lack of funds is delaying the completion of Jeddah’s rainwater drainage project, according to Dr. Abdullah Al-Jarallah, minister of municipal and rural affairs.
He disclosed this to the media after attending a periodic meeting of the Kingdom’s city mayors in Dammam on Wednesday.
Jeddah Mayor Abdullah Al-Muallemi had earlier said that the work on a two-pronged rainwater drainage project was under way. Construction of the main network was the first part of the project. The south Jeddah network in Prince Fawaz district has already been completed while the work in the Prince Sultan street and Heraa Street was progressing, the mayor said.
The second part of the project covered the intersection of the old Makkah Road with the Expressway. This is in addition to 50 other related projects in the north, south, east, west and central districts of the city, the mayor said.
In his meeting with media persons, Dr. Al-Jarallah expressed unhappiness at the lack of funds to the projects in Jeddah, the woes of which have further been compounded by the surfacing of the ground water threatening bridges and buildings in several parts of the city.
The minister said the mayors’ conference agreed to conduct a study on the recycling of municipal wastes. The meeting also decided to complete the King Fahd Road project in the Eastern Province as well as to review the steps taken by the municipalities for environmental protection. The participants also stressed the need for providing efficient and quick service to the public.
A committee comprising members of various government departments such as municipalities, border guards, environment protection, agriculture and interior will examine the land reclamation works undertaken at certain parts of the coastline and make necessary recommendations in each case, the minister said.
The Dammam Municipality has decided to name the streets, and number buildings and plots in all towns and cities in the Eastern Province.
