Authorities in Jeddah began repairing over 300 potholes, ditches and cracks across the city last month, said a spokesman for the city’s municipality.

Mohammed Al-Baqmi, spokesman for Jeddah Municipality, said work is being carried out to repair roads in districts across Jeddah, including the Al-Marwa, Al-Mahmadia, Al-Rawda and Al-Rihab areas. He added that the potholes, cracks and ditches found in the city’s roads are due to poor workmanship.

Al-Baqmi said companies that were contracted to repair the roads failed to carry out work properly and lacked transparency and reliability. He also called on members of the public to inform the Jeddah Municipality of roads that need repairing.

The poor state of roads and pavements in Jeddah have become a serious cause for concern in recent weeks following the high-profile death of a father and son who slipped down a manhole in Jeddah’s popular Tahliah Street.

Parents of young children have called on the Jeddah Municipality to act robustly and quickly in dealing with the issue to ensure accidents like this do not reoccur; there is also a widespread feeling that the municipality has done little to address the problem.

Residents in the Al-Jamea district of south Jeddah have been complaining to the municipality about a deep ditch along Jamea Road which connects to the Old Makkah Highway (Kilo 5). The ditch has been open since last September despite local residents continuously telling the municipality to deal with it.

Saeed Al-Zahrani lives in the Al-Rihab district of the city. He said his area is in a dire situation. “We’ve been telling the Jeddah Municipality about a deep hole in the middle of the road that is parallel to the Al-Ahli Club for over a month now. Nothing has been done about it so far,” he said.

This view was echoed by Hani Abu Saud, a resident of the Al-Rawda district, who said there is a deep ditch adjacent to the Al-Khalidyiah Primary School that poses a risk to schoolchildren and passersby. “It’s been left open despite the municipality being informed about it for over a month now. Nothing has been done so far,” he said.

Jeddah Mayor Dr. Hani Abu Al-Ras has informed the Jeddah Municipality’s Operations Department not to close the files of all of the city’s manmade holes until they have been dealt with properly. He has also asked for periodic reports on the matter.

Abu Al-Ras said members of the public can contact the municipality regarding sewage problems and ditches by telephoning 940 or sending an e-mail via the municipality’s website. He added that where there are holes and cracks in the same area, cracks would be dealt with first as they are considered the cause of the holes.