The Municipal Council in Jeddah has refused to sign an agreement with the National Society for Human Rights (NSHR), citing difficulties due to the imminent end of the council's term and its numerous committees. Tariq Fad'aq, Chairman of the Municipal Council, said that a meeting on Tuesday night in Jeddah with Hussein Al-Shareef, Supervisor General of the NSHR in Jeddah, had failed to establish a system or appoint a coordinator to liaise between the two bodies. During the meeting the NSHR asked the council to address the needs of limited income Saudis, the collection and use of Zakat, and put environment-related regulations and agreements into effect. Fad'aq said the municipal council was working on several projects tackling issues of concern to youth, disabled people, mothers and widows, children, and others including the provision of housing to the poor, insecticides and looking into “equality in building”. The municipal council also discussed the involvement of Jeddah's expatriate communities in future municipal council monthly meetings, with Muhammad Tayyib, Director General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the province of Makkah. Fad'aq said that coordination with the communities' representatives and accredited consuls general of their respective countries in Jeddah would begin next week in preparation for their involvement in the monthly meetings in order to hear their observations and suggestions.
