Poor state of Jeddah’s streets blamed on erring contractors

Jeddah Mayoralty has repaired more than 200 potholes and paved worn-out roads in the city, an official of the Jeddah Municipality said.
Mohammed Al-Buqami, official spokesman of the Jeddah Municipality, told Arab News that the poor condition of Jeddah’s roads was due to the contractors who did not abide by the regulations.
He called upon Jeddah’s residents to inform the mayoralty of any potholes or cracks as soon as they appear so they can be taken care of immediately.
The unusually large potholes are a cause for concern even for the well-heeled in Jeddah’s neighborhoods. Sultan Hamdi, the famous car rally champion whose car recently fell into a deep pothole told Arab News: “I was driving my car in Al-Rawda Street toward the Square Bridge when I noticed a huge hole in the street. Despite my long experience in driving, I failed to avoid the pothole and fell straight into it with all four wheels completely torn, severely damaging my car. The rims were also damaged and I had to shell SR20,000 for my car to be back on the road again.”
Hamdi added that there were no sign posts of renovations on the road or anything to warn him of the danger lurking ahead.
Hamdi said that the street ‘crater’ had resulted from earthworks done on the sewage system. “Apparently, the pothole wasn’t fixed properly to match the asphalt level and this reflects not only the contractors’ carelessness but also the lack of attention to road safety by the mayoralty and the negligence of the Jeddah traffic police,” he said.
“I asked around and discovered that the pothole had been there for quite a long time. The traffic patrols couldn’t have missed it,” he added.
He called on the authorities to exercise the utmost care in matters concerning people’s lives and properties including the streets.
Hamdi pointed out that he had complained to the authorities about the damage to his vehicle to draw the attention of the media so that they could raise awareness about this issue.
Meanwhile, Al-Buqami said that the contracting company had not completed their work according to plan. “The mayoralty will reprimand the contracting company and ensure that it fixes the pothole immediately,” he said, adding that every citizen had the right to ask the company for compensation. “All you need to do to make a complaint to the mayoralty is to document the damage and have a report from the traffic police,” Al-Buqami said.
The large-scale construction projects of flyovers and underpasses to ease the congestion on Jeddah’s roads is taking its toll on the existing networks which are overburdened with the heavy traffic resulting in potholes, ditches and uneven surfaces.