MAKKAH: A special committee set up by the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs has completed its work to locate valleys and courses which pose a flood threat to the region's residents and infrastructure. Prince Mansour Bin Mit'eb Bin Abdul Aziz, the Minister of Municipal and Rural Affairs, said Monday the work was in preparation for the drafting of a national flood strategy. He said recommendations made by the committee have already been submitted to King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques. The planning and budgeting over the next few years for the national strategy will take place in coordination with the Ministry of Economy and Planning. Prince Mansour made these comments following his inspection tour of the projects being carried out by the ministry at the holy sites in Makkah. Meanwhile, he said the Makkah Mayoralty and Makkah Development Authority have reached a common understanding on completing the 4th Ring Road project in Makkah. He said the project is crucial because it forms the backbone of the road network which will help to ease traffic congestion and bottlenecks in the city. Prince Mansour also said discussions have taken place with the Chinese authorities on a reported loss of SR2 billion suffered by the Chinese company building the railway project linking the holy sites. “During my recent visit to China I met some officials of the Chinese Communist Party and the Chinese trade minister. They raised this issue but I asked them to postpone any discussions on this matter until the end of Haj.” He said the process of evaluation and development of the project is continuing in terms of the vision of the Haj Higher Panel and the Makkah Development Authority. Referring to the elections of the regional or municipal councils, he said the ministry has renewed the term of these councils for two years. “The ministry has worked out a new system governing the elections of the regional councils and this has already been submitted to King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques. The new system is currently being reviewed by the Experts' Commission at the Council of Ministers.” He said the system does not prevent women from participating in these elections. A committee composed of a number of government agencies will discuss this matter. About land grants, which the ministry usually gives to lower income citizens, he said, “The ministry has four programs for the grants. The first program covers the land which the ministry handed over to the Housing Authority, the second one is the direct grants which are linked to the development of housing plots, the third is the land given to charitable housing projects, and the fourth program is related to the land plots allocated in the past.” He said a committee, which was set up under a royal order to look into the projects which have not met its deadlines, has adopted several recommendations which has already been submitted to the King.
