Dr. Hani Abu Ras, Mayor of Jeddah, addresses the media Monday during a press conference to discuss flood-prevention work in east Jeddah. (SG photo by Mohammad Mazhar Siddiqi) JEDDAH: We are not going to remove Umm Al-Khair District, but we will build canals, Dr. Hani Abu Ras, Mayor of Jeddah, said Monday. “We are going to build canals to drain the rainwater of Marekh Valley, east of Jeddah, to the sea so that the people of Umm Al-Khair will have no fear of drowing any more,” he said. “We are coordinating with Saudi Geological Survey to approve this solution.” Dr. Abu Ras spoke to the media at a press conference to discuss establishing the infrastructure for the projects. More than SR650 million will be spent to finish projects to develop Jeddah's eastern side, which include building dams to protect residents from flooding, he said. “The Jeddah Development and Urban Regeneration Company has already received SR200 million to be used in the first phase of project,” he said. “We have started building the dams at Kaws and Mathwab valleys to protect the people there.” The dams, which will cost about SR440 million, should drain the water in about 28 days, he said. Some people were relocated to clear the way for work to be done, said Dr. Khairy Al-Abdeen, director general of the project to develop eastern Jeddah. “We have eliminated more than 20 homes at Mathwab Valley after we convinced the owners of the need to protect the 200,000 residents in the eastern side of Jeddah,” he said. Dr. Abu Ras said the focus on getting things done right led officials to cancel three main contracts with famous contractors after officials found that they were not properly implementing them. Another project will soon be implemented to address the flooding of King Abdullah Tunnel and other sites, he added. “It flooded because of the high level of surface water, which comes from its eastern side,” he said. “We are also working on implementing the project of decreasing the level of underground water in Al-Samir, Al-Ajwad, Kuwaiza, Al-Olia, Al-Musa'ad, Al-Nasem, Al-Tawfiq, Al-Manar and Al-Sulaimania districts. We have received approval for that work.” A canal with a daily capacity of about 100,000 cubic meters of water will carry water from the Kaws Valley to the Red Sea, said Dr. Al-Abdeen. “We will have a boxing canal coming from Kaws Valley and moving through Al-Mosa'ad and Quwaiza to drain the water immediately to the sea,” he said. The Jeddah Mayoralty faced an obstacle of determining locations of electrical wires before work could start, Dr. Al-Abdeen said. “We could not find a map showing locations of high-voltage lines at Kaws Valley,” he said. He added that after the last rain in Jeddah, workers had to drain 7 meters of water from Kaws Valley. Three different-sized dams will be constructed there, based on international standards, Dr. Al-Abdeen said. “The biggest one is being built close to Al-Mussad and Quwaiza districts and the other two will be built in the Kaws Valley area,” he said. A dam to be built at the Mathwab Valley will be about 88 meters high and 600 meters wide, he added. “The dam should last for 200 years and if water reaches the top of it, the water will be drained through the special boxes,” said Dr. Al-Abdeen. “We will also build additional walls with drainage paths on the top of dam.” The project included studies of five urgent dams and canals of Gholail and Mathwab valleys, which will cost about SR1.2 million, and Kaws Valley, which will cost about SR500,000, he added. Officials, who selected homes in the flood path to be removed, said there are 174 at Kaws Valley, 274 at Mathwab and Gholail valleys, 42 at Umm Al-Hablain Valley, in addition to about 1,000 buildings in the canal's path.
