JEDDAH — About 15 percent of Jeddawis live in undeveloped districts, especially in the east of the city. “People go to these areas because the prices of land and rent are low,” Abdullah Al-Ahmari, chairman of the real estate evaluation and auctions committee of the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI) said. The official was quoted by business daily Al-Eqtisadiah as saying on Tuesday that several residential districts east of the city are not planned and do not have strong basic infrastructure. “These districts may face a lot of problems during rainfall,” he said. Al-Ahmari said residents have opted to purchase land plots or rent houses in these areas because the prices were affordable. “People are unable to purchase lands in planned districts in the center of the city because of their high prices,” he added. Al-Ahmari said Saudis who were granted pieces of land by the government in far away areas sold them and bought land in the east of Jeddah because of their low prices. He recalled that a committee chaired by Prince Khaled Al-Faisal, then Makkah emir, assigned Saudi Aramco to construct projects to drain the floodwater. The committee was set up under a royal decree after rains and floods devastated the city in 2009. “Aramco has done a great job, but the east Jeddah districts still need re-planning and introduction of a strong basic infrastructure,” he said. Al-Ahmari said citizens built their houses in the eastern districts without obtaining construction licenses from the municipality. He said the problem of the underdeveloped districts will only end with the implementation of the decision of the Council of Ministers to grant citizens pieces of land and loans for construction in planned areas. Waheeb Allami, a lawyer and a real estate investor, said the presence of a number of residential districts close to the valley passes and dams in east Jeddah has brought down rent and land prices. “Many low-income Saudis have opted to live in these areas,” he said. Allami asked concerned officials to put an end to the issue of underdeveloped districts and said landlords should be compensated with houses and apartments in other planned districts in Jeddah. Spokesman of Makkah Civil Defense Col. Saeed Sarhan said the majority of the districts lying within the valley passes have been demolished after the rain and flood disaster of 2009. He said the floodwater drainage system in Jeddah is nearing completion. “However, the problem of draining rainwater in some districts has not yet been solved,” he said
