JEDDAH, 10 February 2007 — The SR1.6 billion ($427 million) annual budget unveiled by Jeddah Mayor Adel Fakieh on Thursday is the largest in the municipality’s history, according to city officials.
Fakieh said the budget includes outlays to complete major public works projects in the next three to five years. The mayor pledged to make a difference this year.
“Jeddah will witness a noticeable improvement in the level of cleanness, servicing and general facilities before the end of this year,” the mayor told a press conference on Thursday.
He said SR100 million has been allocated for repairing sidewalks and lights. The historic center of the city will get SR15 million for servicing and new lighting in the areas in and around Qabil Street up to Bab Makkah.
This portion of the budget is part of a grander scheme to salvage the historic center’s crumbling charms and get the area on the UNESCO’s list of World Heritage sites.
Around SR235 million is slated for road projects aimed to improve the traffic situation in the rapidly expanding city, such as overpasses, tunnels and intersections. The mayor said for the first time the city is allocating funds — SR30 million — to develop parks for hosting public events and gatherings.
The municipality has allocated SR70 million to develop drainage systems and address Jeddah’s infamous flooding problem that occurs during those rare times when the city is struck with heavy rains.
Fakieh said SR162 million will be directed at outlying villages that lie under the responsibility of the municipality.
The mayor said SR870 million would be used to reorganize the municipality’s sanitation strategy, which includes dividing the city into three sections, each under the control of a sanitation department. He said that dividing up the city’s sanitation duties would make it easier to manage. Previously one sanitation department managed the entire city of three million people.
Fakieh said that they have also included a number of city beautification and maintenance projects such as maintaining sculptures and monuments around the city, renovating the city’s gates (which are reconstructed replicas of the originals that had been torn down in the past).
The mayor also said that SR40 million was allocated for operating the new city dump, about 45 kilometers to the east of the city. Some SR32 million ($8.5 million) was allocated for maintaining and expanding cemeteries.
More details on the new budget are available in Arabic at www.jeddah.gov.sa.
