Many realize the importance of Al-Jamoom city in Makkah province because of its strategic location at the gateway to the holy city. Hundreds of thousands of pilgrims pass through Jamoom while traveling between Madinah and Makkah. Thousands of passenger vehicles and trucks carrying goods from Jeddah to eastern and southern parts of the country cross the city daily. Despite the large number of residents who live in the governorate and the many colleges, schools and government offices, it still lacks may important services that cause residents real suffering. People of Jamoom now realize that their long silence about the issues has led them to endure the problems. They continue to fear for their lives as large numbers of trucks cross their city on their way to Taif and other cities in the southern, central and northern parts of the country. Heavily loaded trucks threaten the stability and safety of the narrow city roads. Okaz/Saudi Gazette toured Jamoom with its narrow streets to record the suffering of its people in their everyday life. An elderly citizen shocked us when he said his city could be the only one in the country with not more than a single traffic light. "There are no exits on the roads and no traffic lights to organize the traffic flow. It gets really chaotic most of the time for drivers especially as the streets suffer from a lack of frequent maintenance," said Saud Al-Sahli. After entering the city through the main road, we saw the one traffic light Al-Sahli mentioned. The delay we underwent waiting to pass that traffic light is equal to waiting at 10 traffic lights in other cities. The view of the light was completely blocked by rows and rows of heavy trucks. Al-Sahli said these trucks were transporting goods from Jeddah part to different parts of the country. Their large numbers create major traffic issues for the people of Jamoom. "Residents asked many times for these trucks to be rerouted through roads outside the city, but no efforts have been made. We're constantly faced with silence and a lack of action from the police and transport officials," he added. Another bizarre issue that Okaz/Saudi Gazette noticed in many of Jamoom's streets was the asphalt layer. It expanded to cover not only the roads but the sidewalks as well. Perhaps this problem is enough proof of failure by the municipality and other supervisory bodies to carry out routine maintenance. The holes in the streets in addition to the falling road signs and signals are threatening the safety of pedestrians and motorists alike. When asked about the loosened asphalt on main roads, Khalid Al-Mutairi blamed the poor execution of road projects by some contractors. Many cars get broken down because of the asphalt and passing trucks make the problem worse. Okaz/Saudi Gazette contacted Jamoom's mayor for his comments on residents' complaints, but he said he was busy with meetings outside the governorate. Jamoom residents believe that traffic police must do more than issuing tickets and responding to accidents. People think that it is important to convert the current traffic police station into a comprehensive department with full authority to help citizens by implementing traffic safety plans. A source at the Makkah traffic administration confirmed that the Jamoom office has a very limited capacity to offer services to the residents. "Once a new department is established, many things will change including the street maintenance and the implementation of traffic awareness programs that will benefit everyone in the city," said the source.
