Ibrahim Shehab

Okaz/Saudi Gazette

 

JEDDAH — Al-Rehab neighborhood in east Jeddah is in a chaotic state, lacking proper planning, lack of sewage disposal networks and virtually no street lighting, according to local residents. The neighborhood streets are very narrow and public parks are hard to find. Besides, residents here have not enough medical facilities because big hospitals are far away from the area.



Residents have complained of numerous rundown houses and narrow roads offering no access to utility vehicles from Civil Defense, security patrols and the municipality.



The area resembles a ghost town as soon as the sun sets as there are not enough electricity poles to provide street lighting to a 2 sq. km area.



Officials have accused residents of committing several municipal violations when they built their houses in the area over 15 years ago. They allegedly circumvented municipal laws to have water and electricity connections in their homes.



Naser Al-Basly, a resident, said the neighborhood is located in a very strategic area, but most of the houses are built without the necessary facilities. He said the streets are so narrow that Civil Defense and security patrols cannot access different areas in case of emergencies.



The nearest big hospital is the maternity hospital in Al-Aziziyah neighborhood, while health centers in the neighborhood are not sufficient to provide proper medical services.



Fawaz Al-Malki, a resident, said sewage water seeps onto the streets. Strangely, Ibn Jubair Street is the only one which carries a name. South of the Indonesian Consulate, there are numerous dilapidated homes, some of them on the verge of collapse.



Residents also claim that the area is inhabited by a large number of single expatriates who are a nuisance to families residing in the neighborhood.



Residents complain that there are not enough public parks in the area. "The existing parks in the area suffer from lack of maintenance and neglect," Othman Al-Waz'ei said.



Al-Waz'ei said when he approached the municipality to complain about lack of maintenance in a park next to his house, officials informed him that budgetary allocations have been made for the same thing the following year. "Years have passed, but nothing has happened," he said.



Abdullah Al-Assaf, a National Water Company (NWC) official, said the sewage water problem in the district is caused by an increase in the underground water levels.



Spokesman of Jeddah Municipality Sami Nawar said the municipality is planning a number of public parks in Jeddah. During the coming few years the city will have 75 public parks, covering an area of 40,500 sq. meters.

The municipality is also planning to build 150 parks during the next 10 years, he said.