Five top companies have been tasked with transforming the central area of Jeddah into a spectacular city over a period of 25 years, Chairman of Development of Central Jeddah Company(DCJC), Ghassan Al-Suleiman announced here on Wednesday. Addressing a press conference to announce the top companies engaged in the huge project, Al-Suleiman said the aim was to enhance Jeddah's status as the gateway to the Two Holy Mosques and radically expand its role as both a regional and global economic hub. Beside DCJC, the consortium includes the Kingdom's leading company Urban Development Limited, Solidere International Limited, Siraj Capital of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait's Commercial Real Estate and Venture Capital Bank in Bahrain. Al-Suleiman said the consortium was based on a memorandum of understanding signed with the Jeddah Municipality. “This vital project is being executed through a partnership between the public and private sectors,” Al-Suleiman said. The ground work will start by the beginning of next year and the project will be completed in 25 years but “people will be able to notice perceptible changes in the central area within the next couple of years,” he said. The project is based on finding successful solutions for the problems faced by central Jeddah including ruined historical buildings, weak infrastructure and sea pollution. The five companies will regenerate the infrastructure of the new city center and develop the 16-km Red Sea waterfront. Developing historical old Jeddah, however, will be part of the project to revive the remaining buildings in an area of 6 square kilometers. “Jeddah had more than 900 historical sites but now only 480 remain,” Al-Suleiman said. He added that the development will be environmentally friendly as more green areas will be added to the city center beside some new projects to reduce traffic congestion and pollution levels. The plan is to divide Jeddah city center into two main zones, the waterfront area and the historic area. New development will extend from outside the historic zone and will include lands offered by the Jeddah Municipality and the owners and shareholders of the project. “For the owners of some buildings and land in the area, we will not force any one to participate as shareholders but we have earmarked a huge amount of money for those who prefer not to invest,” Al-Sulaiman said. Richard Azoury, representative of Solidere International, said his company will boost its efforts to develop Jeddah with support from its experience in building the central area in Beirut. Ghassan Al-Suleiman denied any significant effect of the ongoing global financial crisis. “We can say that we will not be affected but I believe that the impact of the global crisis will be minor as most of the demand comes from inside and our project's finance depends on local banks.” Al-Suleiman did not disclose the overall budget and cost of the project as many developers and government bodies will also contribute. “I don't have a certain amount but all I can say is that we have allocated SR3,500 million to renew the infrastructure and revive historical old Jeddah.” Abdullah Abdul Aziz Kamel, CEO of Urban Development Limited, said the idea of the project was first developed by late Engineer Abdul Aziz Kamel eight years ago. Kamel said that prices of real estate in the area of the project and neighboring areas will gradually increase with the progress of the development project. Al-Suleiman urged the public to visit the ongoing “Makkah Mega Projects Development Exhibition”, which was inaugurated Saturday by King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques. “The exhibition presents the volume of projects being undertaken in the region, particularly in Jeddah, and the economic development initiated by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and Crown Prince, across the region,” he said. __
