‘We are losing our history, and we should be preserving it' JEDDAH: Sources have said that the mayoralty's work plan for Jeddah's Historical District is “not up to scratch”, while the Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities (SCTA) says that buildings in the area suffer from a division over guardianship. The sources described the mayoralty's work plan as failing in its ambitions. “The increasing number of images of the area on the Internet show that progress being made in work in the district is slow,” the sources said. Muhammad Al-Amri, manager of the SCTA's Makkah office, expressed his dismay at the situation in the area. “There is poor infrastructure maintenance, and also dual guardianship of it, divided between endowments and inheritance properties,” he said. “The area has been neglected for decades and we have lost a large number of historical buildings. Only 375 now remain of the approximately 1,000 that existed 25 years ago. Fifty of them are classified as Class 1 in terms of condition, 170 as Class 2, and 155 as Class 3. If things continue as they are, and work is held up, we will lose more.” He said that the collaboration of all government bodies was required to prevent further loss. “That includes the municipalities, the Jeddah Mayor's Office, the Tourism Commission, Civil Defense, Endowments, the water company and the electricity company, the Ministry of Communications, the Passports Department, the Ministry of Trade, and the contract developer,” he said. Al-Amri appealed to the mayoralty to address the loss of buildings and find quick solutions to the endowments of buildings which constitute 30 percent of the total in the area. “They also need to tackle the problem of building owners who have had a large part to play in the neglect of the buildings and their abandonment and lack of repairs,” he said. “It has left some of them vulnerable to collapse. We are losing our history, and we should be preserving it.” Al-Amri further said that the area should be cleared of warehouse and storage sites, that electricity and water fittings should be inspected, and that the ownership of some historic buildings should be transferred to the Mayor's Office. “A complete plan of the area is required for the zone delineating roads of entrance and exit,” he said. Sami Nawwar, chairman of the Historic Area Municipality, meanwhile, said that the 26 buildings damaged in the recent floods in Jeddah which also led to the collapse of four buildings, would be repaired and renovated in the traditional style. “The Historic Area is in need of a lot of work and the attention of all relevant authorities, including the Tourism Commission,” he said. “The point of setting up the Historic Area Municipality five months ago was to preserve the historic buildings, and the efforts put into it will only show after the area has been designated a UNESCO site.”
