Quite frequently there is a news item about an event held by some ministry or municipality. And during such events quite a few grand statements are made that make me often wonder whether I live on the same planet.
The Jeddah Municipality held an event this week unveiling its “Jeddah 1450” plan. According to Dr. Abdul Qader Amir, the vice mayor for planning and urban development at the municipality, “this vision, which we call Jeddah 1450, is guided by certain principles.”
He continued, “the city is facing challenges to preserve and enhance our advantages, which include the rapid population growth, an increased environmental pressure and the onward plan to seek a lesser dependence on oil, all of which call for innovative ideas in terms of urban management and planning, and transport and financing.”
“We have embarked on an ambitious program to face these challenges. We are currently engaged in developing a vision for our city with a 20-year perspective. This vision, which we call Jeddah 1450, is guided by certain principles that are based on culture, history, and the environment.”
The plan encompasses a list of 100 projects in the city’s 20-year development program and I must be right in assuming that this project is scheduled to last until the year 2030 Gregorian. And on the assumption that most of us who had read this news item are alive and alert at that time, the city is finally expected to be something worthwhile to live in.
But why wait for 20 plus years to set things right? Why not do something right now to alleviate the suffering of the residents of this city? Is it perhaps that things move that slowly here? Or are bureaucrats still unsure or unaware of what to do next once they announce their grandiose schemes?
As a resident of Jeddah, I know the mess that inefficient planning and an impotent or corrupt bureaucracy has created over the past few years.
A short drive through Jeddah would immediately bring to your attention the following flaws:
• Our streets and roads are despicable. And the municipality has not done its job in enforcing laws against digging and tearing of roads. Hardly a neighborhood exists in this city that can boast of well-paved streets. It is indeed disgraceful!
• Construction debris remains a menace in spite of several municipal press releases to the contrary. They are supposed to have inspectors who monitor violations, but where are they exactly remains to be seen.
• Building permits are being speedily handed out to those interested in setting up shopping centers at practically every intersection, but no thought is given to the negative impact of such construction on the neighborhoods. Provisions for parking are laughable at most of these newly planned sites. And the sorry part is that we have yet to learn from our mistakes.
It is bad enough that we suffer a shortage of potable water and have to witness water tankers zipping about to all parts of the city. Or the ghastly sight and smell of septic tankers leaking their load on roads and pavements as they drive about. Or garish billboards on every lamppost? Or the lack of parks in neighborhoods? Seriously, does it really take a rocket scientist to figure out how to keep our Corniche clean and free from pests?
While there are some laws to do things right, such rules are being flouted in full view of all and sunder, making one wonder if there is anybody at the municipality seeing or listening to what the people go through.
The folly is in the enforcement, and no 20-year plan is going to set things right if existing plans are rapidly unraveling through mismanagement and ineffectual planning.
We don’t need a “Jeddah 1450” for now. What we need is a serious effort by civil servants in the municipality to do their job properly and do it now, a “Jeddah 2007”, if you will. It shouldn’t take the rest of the year or so to fix some of the immediate nuisances forced upon the residents. My memory cells have been dulled over the years by grandiose plans that have failed to materialize.
Let’s not plan and ponder about flying to the moon before we learn how to walk.
