King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, has entrusted him with the mayoralty, and wants him to serve Jeddah's citizens, according to Dr. Hani Abu Ras, the newly-appointed city mayor. In an interview with Okaz/ Saudi Gazette, one day after assuming office as the mayor, Abu Ras said the King wants to ensure sustainable prosperity for the city's residents. He said the King told him in the following words: “I entrust you with Jeddah … serve its citizens.” The mayor started his first day by holding a meeting with his deputy, Engineer Khaled Ugail, deputy assistants and heads of the administrations. He also received good wishes from the mayoralty's staff that came to congratulate him. Abu Ras said he will meet Prince Khaled Al-Faisal, Emir of Makkah, to listen to his advice and ideas. He will seek to measure up to his aspirations and ambitions. He will also meet with Prince Mesha'l Bin Majed Bin Abdul Aziz, Governor of Jeddah, to brief him on his plans and listen to his directives. He said he will devote the first days of his term to revise several dossiers and hold a series of meetings with his colleagues. This is to get acquainted with all the work and projects. “My prime objective is to translate the King's directives into deeds and actions since he has entrusted me with the responsibility of Jeddah. I am here in this position to serve the governorate and act as a servant to citizens.” “The burden is heavy. Work at the Jeddah Mayoralty needs hard work. I need every individual's effort and support to develop the Bride of the Sea and translate words into deeds and actions.” He said one of the first tasks on his first day was dealing with a citizen's complaint, referred to him by the governorate, seeking an explanation about an encroachment on his land. He directed the responsible staff to deal with the situation. He said he will soon be able to work out what he can do for citizens. “But it should be understood that no official has a magic wand to solve all problems overnight.” He said there are a number of files concerning present and future projects, in addition to those in east Jeddah, land grants, land plots, road congestion, environment and cleaning, undeveloped districts and many other issues. “Doubtless, all these thorny issues will be on the desk of the mayoralty's officials.” He vowed that he will carry out weekly inspection tours of ongoing projects, and stressed that he will do his best to speed up progress. He said he wanted joint action on all problems facing the city; and that he will respond to any complaint from any citizen.
