A dam project to prevent flooding in Jeddah has been stalled due to a massive technical oversight. Contractors working on the Wadi Mathwab Dam failed to coordinate over a key junction between vital pipes and drains. The project will be delayed until an unspecified time. A spokesman said the contracting company is being forced to re-extend the pipes in order to link them at the proper meeting point. This will delay completion of the project until an unspecified time. He said the pipes must be extended by 1.5 km — from the dam site to Kilo 14 where the rain water pipes will lead to the sea. The Wadi Mathwab Dam is part of a five-dam project to prevent flooding in Jeddah. The remaining dams have been completed and the final cleaning operations are under way. However the mistake means that a key part of the project to drain off excess rainwater is being delayed. “We must lay rainwater drainage pipes downstream of the dam where water will be collected. The rainwater will be drained to the sea,” sources said. Meanwhile, Prince Khaled Al-Faisal, Emir of Makkah region, Sunday inaugurated the third workshop for rain and water drainage projects. A large number of senior government officials are attending the “Ideal coordination for current and future projects in Jeddah governorate”, workshop. “Project consultants will give presentations on the engineering solutions approved by the ministerial committee to ward off flood and rain hazards from Jeddah,” a workshop spokesman said earlier. All these projects, he said, will be handed over at the end of November. These include drainage canals on a number of streets, roads and critical locations in the city. This is on top of the dam project east of Jeddah Al-Samer and Umm Al
