term holidays in full swing, the Jeddah seafront is greeting the thousands of visitors heading its way with a welcome of trash, crumbling facilities, falling lamp posts and exposed electrical fittings. Many improvement works that were supposed to have started years ago remain suspended for reasons unknown, and first-time visitors to the area are often staggered at the poor condition of public bathrooms, walkways and buildings in the area. “There are loads of buildings here that need to be torn down and work needs to be done to make the area more attractive instead of just leaving things to wear away,” said Khalid Al-Subai'i who is visiting from Al-Baha. “All the public facilities and services need maintenance or rebuilding work of some kind.” Sami Al-Oufi has come from Tabuk, and described how visitors from the north are greeted as they enter the city at the north of the Corniche. “I couldn't believe what I saw,” Al-Oufi said. “You're led to believe you're going to see something wonderful but suddenly you're in front of a sight where everything clearly needs rebuilding or renovating, and it's certainly not what you would expect of a city with the history of Jeddah and which is known as the “'Bride of the Red Sea'.” Another visitor was shocked at the sight of high power electricity generators left open and unprotected, with no fencing to prevent access. “There's exposed cables lying on pavements as well,” he said. “It's just a matter of time before somebody trips on them and gets an electric shock.” Natives of the city are just as indignant as visitors. “I can't believe they charge people for using the bathrooms on the Corniche,” said Zuhair Halwani. “They are filthy and stink and yet they still expect people to pay.” An official at the Mayor's Office cited investments in public works on the Corniche amounting to SR100 million for which national companies have been contracted. The works are expected to be completed in two years, and proposals for further projects have been put to the business. It is learnt, meanwhile, that some development projects in the north of the Corniche were suspended when the main official responsible for them was detained during the Jeddah flood disaster investigations. Supervision of the projects has since been passed over to the Mayor's Office but work has yet to be resumed, a situation which has reportedly incurred huge losses for the Mayor's Office and developers alike.
