JEDDAH: Sixteen days have passed since the devastating Wednesday rain in Jeddah, but some of the city's streets are still suffering from potholes, other major damages and overflowing water. Southward Madina Road is among the most damaged thoroughfares, along with Sheikh Muhammad Bin Jubair and Dallah roads. Roads in Al-Samer and Al-Manar districts are reeling under large quantities of gushing groundwater that has converted them to what one resident called “hills, plateaus and depressions” that damage vehicles. Area residents are demanding that the Jeddah Mayoralty move quickly to dry up sources of groundwater and fix the roads. The Information Center at Jeddah Mayoralty attributed these collapses and potholes in the asphalt layer to bad workmanship. Officials confirmed that 90 percent of the streets in the governorate's districts, 200 in total, have been damaged by the rain and estimated that it will cost SR100 million to fix them. Damage includes road collapses, potholes and destruction of pavements, they said. Saad Al-Ahmadi and Khalid Al-Shihri, both Saudi citizens, called on the Jeddah Mayoralty to fix the roads and address the problem of groundwater flooding their areas. The rain has left cracks and potholes of different sizes, which are causing major problems with the flow of traffic, they said. “Not a single street in Al-Samer and Al-Ajwad districts is devoid of potholes and cracks – a problem that is causing suffering for all of us,” they said. Al-Shihri said the major roads in Al-Manar District have been destroyed and are full of water and potholes. This has caused the residents to take alternative roads, but when they do so, those roads also become traps for vehicles due to the groundwater, despite the passing of 16 days since the rain stopped. The Jeddah Mayoralty has been too slow to take action, he said. A rehabilitation campaign has been launched and 24 asphalting teams have been distributed to all municipalities at the rate of two teams per municipality, officials said. The Information Center said the campaign launched at the level of the governorate is focused on rehabilitating damaged roads that are hindering the flow of traffic and causing great suffering to motorists. It said it conducted a comprehensive survey of all the city's streets and the locations of potholes were determined by devices using Global Positioning System to facilitate reaching them. The Jeddah Mayoralty's recorded data has been updated and asphalting teams have been dispatched to the damaged roads and streets, the Information Center added. According to the Information Center, the budget for asphalting has been increased by 10 percent, which is allowed by regulations, because of the emergency situation. Contractors have been assigned to repair the roads, bringing the number of working teams to five for each project, with the aim of urgently completing the work, officials said. Brig. Gen. Muhammad Bin Hassan Al-Qahtani, director of the Traffic Department in Jeddah, said his department has monitored the damaged roads and reports have been sent to authorities, which are taking swift action to re-asphalt them. He said most prominent among the damaged roads are King Abdul Aziz, Prince Majid, Bani Malik and Palestine roads, which have become hazardous for motorists because there are potholes, collapses, cave-ins and destroyed pavement.
