Residents here have complained about the delay in the completion of a boys' school complex. The project, which was started six years ago and has been turned over to a number of different contractors, has yet to be completed. Residents say that if it is ever finished it would be able to accommodate thousands of pupils. “We've been waiting for six years now and there are no clear reasons for the delay,” said local residents, Ali Hathal, Awad Midawi and Muhammad Sa'ad. Ahmad Aal Farhan, Director of the Educational Media Unit at Asir's Education Administration, said the situation would be looked into soon. Also in Asir, residents of Oqbat Al-Quroon in Al-Sha'af region appealed to the Minister of Transportation to investigate the reasons for the halt of a 20-km road project. They claim that local people have said that the old, rugged route that connects the area with other Asir regios should be replaced with a modern, asphalted road. Muhammad Rafdan, Ali Al-Shahrani and Yahya Ahmad said people here demanded such a project more than 35 years ago. “Now with the increase in the population, the need for a new road is even more urgent, especially when it comes to driving pregnant women to Asir Central Hospital,” they said. However, Ali Misfer, Acting Director of the Transport Administration in Asir, said that work on the project is under way and is being executed in stages.
