Jeddah will soon be free of car repair shops, Abdulaziz Al-Ghamdi, Jeddah Municipality spokesman, told Arab News.

Automobile repair shops, which currently operate in Jeddah’s Nuzha industrial area, will be moved to the city’s outskirts to Usfan effective next year, he said. “We are currently processing applications from shop owners and operators who want to be relocated to the new area.”

Shops will be phased out from within city limits as part of the project’s first phase, he said.

The project will be implemented over several phases, the first of which will be established in an area spanning 953,000 square meters.

The new site will host up to 20 integrated automobile service centers and more than 200 car repair shops, in addition to 10 plots of land for investment purposes, eight service locations, 76 types of businesses and other facilities and amenities.

“Our objective is to make Jeddah free of air pollutants and protect the environment from other types of industrial waste,” he said. “This will make the city a clean urban center and boost its aesthetic appeal.”

The new site is also located at a strategic location that connects Haramain Highway with Al-Hijra Road, enabling it to attract business from neighboring areas such as Khlais, Usfan and Al-Joum, he said.

He said the new site will create greater demand for services. It will also support a new project currently being developed by the Saudi commission responsible for industrial parks and areas of technology.

Once completed, the project will be spread over 5 million square meters, twice the size of the current location.

There is a ring road around the project that is 40 meters wide, he said. “It is designed so that shops that offer the same type of services are clustered together.”

The infrastructure needed for such a project is in place. The area contains facilities for emergency services, a phone exchange, a police station, a traffic center, a Civil Defense center, an electricity station, a water treatment plant and a water tank, Al-Ghamdi said.