JEDDAH: The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) did not reject Old Jeddah as a World Heritage site, but the authorities here withdrew the application, according to Prince Sultan Bin Salman Bin Abdul Aziz, Chairman of the Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities (SCTA). The application was withdrawn by Prince Khaled Al-Faisal, Emir of Makkah Region and Prince Mish'al Bin Majed Bin Abdul Aziz, Governor of Jeddah, and the SCTA without intervention from any party, said the prince. Another application will be submitted in 2012 once all problem areas are resolved, he added. Prince Sultan lamented the poor state of the area and said that no one will forget the fires and other destructive events that had taken place, some of which were premeditated. He appealed to the authorities to work unitedly to protect the country's heritage. He blamed the decline in interest in the Historical Area to the owners being sidelined and not consulted. This has resulted in the owners being estranged from the authorities. They felt that not enough was being done to invest in their properties. He denied allegations leveled by some sections of the media that favoritism and nepotism led to the rejection of Old Jeddah by UNESCO's Evaluation Committee and that more effort was being made to ensure Al-Daryia and Abaar Ali are included on the World Heritage list. He said Old Jeddah needs an urgent allocation of SR500 million from the government. He said the Jeddah Urban Development Company had been allocated a project for the seafront development, in return for injecting SR500 million into the Historical Area. But none of this has happened and now this amount has shrunk to SR150 million “even though not a single riyal has been paid from this amount so far”. He said this shows that all the accusations against the SCTA are untrue and driven by ulterior motives.
