A committee representing five ministries will address the issue of unplanned city districts in the Kingdom, Prince Mansour Bin Mit'eb Bin Abdul Aziz, Deputy Minister of Municipal and Rural Affairs, has revealed. The committee will look at ways to develop rundown and unplanned city areas, with studies into causes, solutions and demarcation already under way in the western region. The ministries involved in launching the implementation of the country's new Building Code are Municipal and Rural Affairs, Interior, Labor, Social Affairs and Finance. “Unplanned areas differ from region to region as there are areas that can be razed and others that can be rejuvenated,” Prince Mansour said. He was speaking during the inauguration of the 20th Saudi Building, Stones and Marble Exhibition in Riyadh on Sunday. Over 600 local and international companies from 25 countries are participating in the exhibition. The Prince also said that specialist international houses will be asked to evaluate the performance of Saudi Arabia's first elected municipal councils through opinion polls and workshops. “On the basis of these, a new regulation for municipal council elections will be referred for approval,” he said. – Okaz __
