DHAMAD, Jazan — Residents of Dhamad governorate in Jazan have criticized the municipality and water department for their negligence in carrying out a sewage project in the city. They said the contractor used a JCB instead of special equipment to repair the road. Khaled Rasheed Al-Hazmi, chairman of the Dhamad Municipal Council, said the municipality and the water department have violated regulations while asphalting the road as the contractor destroyed the roads and created a number of patches. "The two departments should have monitored the work of the contractor instead of allowing him to do the job according to his whims and fancies," Al-Hazmi told Okaz/Saudi Gazette. Ibrahim Muafa said the municipality and water department awarded the job to contractors, which are not specialized in doing such works. He urged the authorities to launch an investigation and punish officials for their negligence and wasting public money. "The municipality and water department are trading accusations against each other. The municipality said it was the responsibility of the water department," he said while stressing the need to punish officials who are behind the wrong implementation of the project. "It is unbelievable that the contractor used a JCB to asphalt the road instead of special equipment that are used for road works," Muafa told Okaz/Saudi Gazette. Salim Saeed blamed the appearance of holes and patches on Dhamad roads to haphazard implementation of the sewage project. Khaled Al-Hazmi said the sewage project has brought the governorate to 40 years back instead of taking it to new heights of progress. "For the first time I am seeing the use of a JCB for asphalting roads. This clearly shows that there is nobody to monitor works of contractors." He urged Jazan mayoralty to investigate the wrong implementation of the sewage project. Mohammed Al-Shaafi blamed the Dhamad municipality. "It has created a lot of patches and holes in the road, causing damages to our vehicles," he said and urged the municipal chairman to restore the previous condition of the road. He added: "For the past five years whenever we asked the municipality to implement new development projects, it used to say that it would be done after completing the sewage project. But the faulty project has worsened the situation." Al-Shaafi wondered what was the role of the municipal council as its members kept mum while the contractor carried out the work in a wrong way. Awad Al-Ahmary, chief administrator of Dhamad, meanwhile, met with the contractor in the presence of the municipal chairman and asked him to complete the project quickly following the standards set by the government.
