Complaints from residents about possible deadly pollution has seen the Civil Defense notify 600 factories to relocate outside the city's residential neighborhoods. These fears were heightened after the epoxy gas leakage from a factory in the First Industrial Estate of Dammam last Tuesday. According to sources, a number of citizens have lodged complaints about the factories, some of which are a few meters from their homes. Citizens have also pointed out that there is little government supervision and monitoring of these factories because they are far away from industrial areas, according to a report in Shams newspaper Saturday. Abdul Aziz Al-Suraye', Chairman of the Industrial Committee at the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI), warned that factories in residential areas are a danger to residents because they increase pollution. He said that there are 1,200 factories in Jeddah, half of which are in the industrial estate while the other half are scattered inside residential districts. An official source at the Civil Defense said several notices have been issued to factory owners to move their factories away from the homes of residents but they have not responded. The factory owners had stated that no land has been made available so that they can move. Earlier, Dr. Tawfiq Al-Rabi'ah, Chairman of the Industrial Cities Commission, disclosed that a project is underway to move many factories in Jeddah's residential areas to new industrial areas. This would be set up in coordination with the Makkah region's emirate. It is noteworthy that the area of the existing industrial estate in Jeddah is 12 million square meters. This is an area that does not meet existing development plans, which is aimed at diversifying income sources and boosting the industrial sector – the main ways to increase the country's Gross National Product (GNP).
