Saudi Gazette report

JEDDAH — A group of 66 volunteers who include the young and old have prepared a plan to remove garbage on Jeddah's shores every Friday morning while engaging in jogging exercise. The move aims at enhancing the appearance of the new Jeddah Seafront, which has the longest pedestrian bridge in the Kingdom.

"Our group of volunteers launched this cleaning campaign in response to a call made by Makkah Emir Prince Khaled Al-Faisal, who is adviser to Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman while opening the 800 million seafront project recently," said Dr. Saeed Murtan, one of the group's founders.

The emir urged Jeddah residents to take care of the Corniche project. "What are you going to do to preserve this project? Will we hear tomorrow that it has been vandalized and destroyed," the prince asked while addressing the gathering.

The project was implemented to strengthen health of Jeddah residents, reduce incidence of diabetes, prevent fragility of bones, improve blood circulation and promote a culture of jogging.

Speaking to Al-Watan Arabic daily, Murtan said his group would assemble at the Corniche every Friday to walk a 12 km distance. "During this project we will conduct a variety of physical exercises to improve our health and increase our blood circulation," he said.

Murtan said the group would start from King Faisal Square and pass by Hilton until they reach the new seafront, before returning to the starting point. He said the group required the support of the public and private agencies, especially those relating to health and social development in order to fight chronic diseases.

Dr. Saleh Al-Ansari, a former associate professor of family and community medicine, said the group, which was formed two years ago, has an account on Twitter with 3,000 followers. "Our group wants to promote a culture of jogging in society as part of the national transformation program," he explained.

The new waterfront project is located along the Red Sea coast and has a total area of 730,000 square meters with a length of more than 4 km. The project's logo was inspired by the seagulls that live on the shores of Jeddah.

The logo is a swarm of seagulls and the project runs along the Jeddah seafront from north to south as gracefully as the gulls fly. The project consists of vast green areas, advanced infrastructure and a 650-meter-long walkway as well as three new beaches for swimming with a total area of 50,000 square meters.

The green areas are spread over 275,000 square meters and include a six-kilometer-long sewage network, a 14-kilometer-long rainwater drainage system, a seven-kilometer-long network of irrigation tanks, drinking water, and an electricity network having 35 kilometers of low voltage cables and a communications network.

There is also a 4,634-meter-long walkway and 650-meter-long hanging pedestrian bridge connecting the Corniche with Prince Faisal Bin Fahd Street. There is a 125-meter-long fishing pier with 15 canopies, which can hold 814 people at a time. The three swimming beaches have shark barriers and observation towers.