The Jeddah Municipality is seeking to resolve the sewage lake problem within six months. “The municipality will start the SR95 million project immediately after Eid Al-Fitr. The project aims to reduce the quantity of sewage water in the lake. It also aims to address the risks, environmental and health problems caused by swage lake,” Mohammad Al-Tamimi, Adviser to the Secretary of Water Affairs and Sanitation said. The sewage lake is located 15 kilometers east of the expressway. The project has been divided into three sections: Wetlands project with a cost of SR25 million, second to carry the sewage water from treatment station to the drainage network at a cost of SR35 million and the third section worth SR35 million is for laying two lines for transfering the water from treatment station to Al-Haramien Road,” Al-Tamimi said. He added that these projects were in the background studies by the Advisory Office. These studies were based on cooperation with foreign companies specializing in environmental issues to examine the implications of the sewage lake and ways to address them. The lake has risen to an alarming level in recent weeks, putting tremendous pressure on a concrete dam holding up the sewage. Last fortnight, municipality officials inspecting the dam found underground seepage at the dam site. If the dam bursts, several nearby districts would be swamped by sewage, they said. Municipality chief Tareq Fadaq said Jeddah Mayoralty has informed them about the fund allocation by King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, and his directive to take immediate action to avert ecological and health disaster. The council is studying four possible ways to address the problem, Fadaq said. Prince Turki Bin Nasser, President of the General Presidency of Meteorology and Environmental Protection, said the danger posed by the dumpsite could not be ignored any longer. __
