Makkah’s development projects will cost an estimated SR300 billion over the coming years, with a third of this money allocated for public transportation and the King Abdullah project for the upgrading of the city.

Osama Al-Bar, Makkah’s mayor, revealed this estimate recently and said that the government would also build 260 new residential districts in the city over the next 20 years.

Al-Bar said the city is currently working on completing projects costing SR6 billion including the fourth circular road, underpasses and overpasses, pavements, a lighting system, gardens, sports centers and other services for citizens and visitors.

He admitted that there have been delays but the city was currently working on ways to resolve this issue.

He said the municipality recently launched a crackdown on land thieves and recovered 17 million sqm of government property in the Al-Ja’ranah area.

He said the municipality, under the guidance of Makkah Gov. Prince Mishaal bin Abdullah, has taken back large pieces of land from encroachers on the outskirts of the city.

He said the municipality has already allocated some of this land for public utilities including a hospital east of the city, a psychiatric hospital, a technology college, a tourism college and other service facilities.

He said the law previously did not criminalize encroachments, but under Prince Khaled Al-Faisal, the former Makkah governor and now education minister, an initiative was launched to arrest all trespassers on government-owned land.

On the environmental front, Al-Bar said a project to recycle waste is still under study. In addition, the municipality and the city’s development commission have ordered all contractors to build “green” taking into account energy and other environmental issues.

He said the city would integrate the metro and bus service into the transport system soon. “We expect to award the contracts in the first quarter of 2014. The rapid bus service will operate in 2016, while the first line of the metro system will be completed in late 2017.”