Okaz/Saudi Gazette JEDDAH — The residents of a newly developed district in east Jeddah say their neighborhood is expanding in a haphazard manner and accuse the municipality of bad planning. Though the Al-Waha district was built only six years ago, it now looks like any other random neighborhood in Jeddah that was developed without proper planning, the residents said. Some of the said they now regretted that they had spent huge amounts of money building houses in this district, which does not have minimal civic services. They were shocked to find out that the municipality had approved construction in residential plots before the basic services were established. The residents complained of surfacing groundwater flooding the streets, forming swamps and potholes and eroding the asphalt layers. They attributed the problem to the absence of a sewage system in their neighborhood and feared the water accumulations that breed mosquitoes could result in the spread of dengue fever among the residents. They said the swamps provide the ideal breeding ground for insects and they also emit a bad smell that is quite annoying. There are no schools in their district so the residents have to take their children to schools in other districts such as Al-Samir. The residents also said the district's health center has not yet become operational though its building has been constructed a long time ago. They complained that the neighborhood has only one access to the Jeddah-Makkah Expressway and called for creating more exits to ease the flow of traffic. Talal Al-Malki and Abid Al-Johani, residents of Al-Waha, accused the municipality of issuing building licenses before the basic infrastructure projects had been completed. Khaled Al-Ghamdi said the residents regretted having spent their money on building houses in the neighborhood, which has no proper utility services. Abdul Ghani Al-Zahrani said the district does not have public parks to take their children for picnics.
