JEDDAH – The Jeddah mayoralty will temporarily halt the demolition of slums and random districts in the city during the holy month of Ramadan. Speaking to Okaz/Saudi Gazette, Muhammed Al-Baqmi, spokesman of the mayoralty, said that a decision in this regard was taken after considering the condition of the local residents, facilitating them to spend the holy fasting month in a smooth manner without causing any inconvenience. "The demolition work will resume after Ramadan in accordance with a pre-scheduled plan," he pointed out. Al-Baqami said earlier that the great challenge in Jeddah was to bring about a comprehensive development encompassing slums. The main goal behind this project is to serve the human being and protect him from negative phenomena, he said. He also stressed that cooperation of residents and owners of buildings contributed to accomplishing this task in an accelerated manner. Prince Khaled Al-Faisal, emir of Makkah and advisor to Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, handed over documents of housing units to dwellers of Jeddah slums in a ceremony held at the headquarters of the emirate on Monday. The housing units were allotted to a total of 107 families in the first batch. The Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs and Housing will provide a total of 4,781 housing units to local residents whose shelters were razed in line with the directive of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques. The slums were cleared for redevelopment of random districts in the city. Jeddah is currently undergoing a major facelift with the removal of slums and undeveloped neighborhoods. According to Saleh Al-Turki, mayor of Jeddah, there are more than 60 undeveloped neighborhoods in the city. The Committee for the Undeveloped Neighborhoods in Jeddah announced recently a package of services from the state to citizens whose homes are being dismantled. The foremost among these services is the provision of free housing for those who have been affected by the demolition.
