JEDDAH — The Jeddah Mayoralty revealed that renovation work is underway in the closed part of the northern Corniche from the end of Sari Street in the north to the Border Guard headquarters in the south. The renovation works include dismantling and removing damaged granite tiles, caused by the flow of seawater, adjacent to the games area, in preparation for re-treatment work and installing new granite tiles in accordance with the architectural design. The Mayoralty said that the maintenance and painting works of precast concrete chairs were carried out and periodic electrical maintenance work was completed, in addition to painting the lighting poles along the sea promenade, as well as periodic maintenance and painting of waste baskets along the sea promenade, periodic maintenance and operation of the fountain next to the Border Guards headquarters, and periodic maintenance, treatment and painting of the columns of umbrellas in the gaming area next to the Border Guards headquarters. The Mayoralty Spokesman Muhammad Al-Baqmi said that work is underway to renovate irrigation networks with a length of 500 meters and plant green areas with an area of 2,000 square meters with 3,000 seedlings and shrubs next to the Border Guards building, as well as supply and installation of new bumpers for the Corniche Road on both sides and middle of the road, with 270 out of 500 are being installed." "At present, building and plastering work is underway for two electricity rooms in preparation for moving the power station into the rooms to protect against water resulting from high waves, as part of treatment plans in coordination with the Saudi Electricity Company," he said while pointing out that periodic maintenance work, rust removal and repainting of tank covers and rainwater drainage manholes in the area are being carried out, in addition to periodic maintenance work and repainting and renewal of concrete barriers for the sea wall in the region. Al-Baqmi said the irrigation networks on the central island of the Corniche Road were renovated, from Sari Street in the north to the Border Guard headquarters in the south, with a length of 1,800 meters. Plantation works are going on in an area of 2,500 square meters out of 3,500 square meters, while work is currently underway to completely restore the sea wall with handrails and marine scaffolding in preparation for its restoration and supply of new handrails. The Mayoralty also prepared and presented a project to study and design the construction of breakwaters in the North Corniche to use the study's outcomes to implement permanent solutions to avoid damage caused by the flow of sea water during high waves. The site was secured with manning security guards and erected concrete fences to prevent visitors from entering the site. Al-Baqmi said the Mayoralty works throughout the year to ensure that the waterfronts and other facilities are fully prepared for visitors and tourists according to an operational plan for maintenance and operation work. Four waterfronts have been prepared, and these include Al-Saif Beach Corniche in the south of Jeddah governorate, the central Corniche in Al-Hamra district, the waterfront in the northern Corniche, as well as the Roshan waterfront with a total area estimated at 1,800,000 square meters, including green areas, 400,000 square meters of green areas, and a total of parking lots of more than 2,000 car spaces. Also, cleaning work for the models and pedestrian walkways and maintenance of the project facilities such as lighting poles, fountains and games are being carried out for all the above-mentioned sites so as to ensure that green areas are irrigated apart from beefing up the monitoring work." Several citizens and residents complained about the discomfort caused for them following the complete closure and cordoning off the area by security guards to prevent approaching it. They noted that this eventually led to the closure of nearby shops and utility facilities that were provided to beachgoers. They called on the mayoralty to speed up the pace of the renovation work in this area that started one year ago
