MAKKAH – An effective mechanism for partnership and investment in developing Makkah's unplanned districts will be unveiled on Sunday in front of leading investors, property owners, as well as mutual fund and bank officials. Execution of five mega projects, including that of Jabal Al-Sharashif, will be the major highlight of the meeting, which will be held under the aegis of Makkah Emir Prince Khaled Al-Faisal, who is also chairman of the Executive Committee for Developing Unplanned Districts. Al-Baladul Ameen Company for Development, the investment arm of Makkah Mayoralty, will organize the event at Makkah Clock Tower Fairmont Hotel, said Makkah Mayor Osama Al-Bar. He said that development of 66 unplanned regions in Makkah will start with five giant projects in the districts of Quz Al-Nukkasa, Al-Kadwa, Al-Zohour, and Jabal Al-Sharashif or Al-Sharashif Mountain.
“The Real Estate Appraisal Committee will start fixing prices of about 12,000 real estates in Jabal Al-Sharashif, located in the center of Makkah with narrow streets and an overcrowded presence of illegal workers. There are several unplanned residential buildings at the foot and on top of the mountain,” he said. Development of Jabal Al-Sharashif, which covers a total area of 1,631,000 square meters, will transform the unplanned Makkah neighborhood into a major urban center, consisting of hotels, commercial and residential buildings, educational and health facilities and other supporting services. The new township in the district would consist of 1,000 plots of land spread over a total area of 7.2 million square meters. It would house residential buildings for both permanent and seasonal use, commercial buildings, social centers, educational facilities, health centers, mosques, offices of Civil Defense and police, in addition to parks and greenery. The project is linked internally and externally with the surrounding regions by a network of roads, flyovers and bridges.
According to Al-Bar, appraisal of properties in Jabal Al-Sharashif will be followed by receiving title deeds and documents from property owners prior to their expropriation. As part of developing the region, a ring road around the mountain versant will be constructed after demolishing unplanned structures. Hotels and residential buildings for pilgrims on mountainsides will also be built. This will be with the assumption that local residents would cover 30 percent of the area while seasonal dwellers, including pilgrims and visitors, would have the remaining 70 percent, the Makkah mayor said. Al-Bar noted that Jabal Al-Sharashif, one of the most crowded unplanned regions, which is close to the Grand Mosque, will witness development work in the near future. There is a dire need to develop this area into a major urban center in view of the region's poor infrastructure facilities. The region is characterized by insurmountable terrain with several deep curves and valleys and thus posing difficulties in building infrastructure facilities. The mayor also disclosed that the company will construct several residential buildings so as to distribute them at affordable and reasonable prices in Makkah by facilitating partnership between the Mayoralty, private sector and property owners in a way serving the interests of all parties concerned. — SG
