JEDDAH — Prince Khaled Al-Faisal, Emir of Makkah province, paid a surprise visit to Al-Haramain and Al-Ajaweed districts in east Jeddah. The visit came in response to complaints made by residents of both districts about the groundwater overflow and spread of rodents and insects. Following the visit, Prince Khaled gave directives to the National Water Company (NWC) to immediately rectify the problem these two districts have been suffering from for quite some time. NWC's senior officials promised the Emir to solve all the problems residents have been facing and will provide him with a timeline of work needs to be done. NWC Director Abdullah Al-Assaf said the company will install suction pumps and sewage pipes to end this problem. “We promised Prince Khaled to complete this project in eight months. We'll give the go-ahead to the contractor who was awarded the project to start work as soon as possible.” Al-Assaf estimated the cost of the project to be SR120 million. In its previous meetings chaired by the Emir of Makkah, the ministerial committee in charge of rainwater and flood project decided to reduce groundwater level in 18 Jeddah neighborhoods including Briman, Quwaizah, Kilo 14, Al-Matbouli, Al-Olya, Al-Waha, Abrug Al-Raghama, Al-Ajaweed, Al-Samir and Marwah. Meanwhile, Prince Mishal Bin Majed, Governor of Jeddah, has exempted water tankers from traffic restrictions in the city, and has allowed their entry on Jeddah streets round the clock. The traffic police had previously specified certain hours during the day where trucks are allowed to enter Jeddah streets. This ban included water delivery trucks. This resulted in increasing the water shortage among residents. A director of the water company said 2,000 tankers will distribute water to residential buildings that are not connected to the company's water network. Residents said this decision would alleviate the problem of water shortage to some extent, as water tankers will be available round the clock. They said previously they had to wait long hours in lines to secure a water tanker.
