JEDDAH - The municipality here is planning to upgrade parks in the city through a new system of awarding "performance contracts" that enables the mayoralty to evaluate contractors' work based on results. The new system ensures that tens of parks in the city will no longer be in a dismal state.
Under the existing system of contracts for parks and street maintenance, the mayoralty oversees contracted work by monitoring the number of workers allocated for each location, the number of water tankers and the quantity of fertilizer and flowers provided. The final result is hence outside its purview.
Latest statistics show that the total number of locations allocated for building parks is 874. Of these, 450 have only the greenery while 173 other locations are fully developed.
The mayoralty has allocated SR50 million for the establishment, maintenance and operation of public parks, according to the Arabic daily Al-Watan.
Bahat Tal'at Hamwa, director general of the mayoralty's Parks and Beautification Department, told the paper that his department is preparing to develop 150 sites.
This year alone, 25 new public parks will be readied, he said.
Jeddah's biggest parks are poorly maintained or are without safety measures.
Tahlia Park, located next to Tahlia Square along King Abdul Aziz road, does not have a barrier to prevent children playing in the park from straying into the street only a few meters away.
At the public park along Al-Sahafa Street, exposed electrical wires hanging from a lighting post are within a child's reach.
Hamwa said his department has taken note of these problems and addressing them. Some parks, however, do have a hedge along their boundaries as a safety measure, he added.
About the problem of some parks located in rather unsuitable locations, Hamwa said that locations are decided by the relevant department in the mayoralty and not his department, which is tasked with only execution of work.
In 2006, the mayoralty signed three agreements with the public and private sector companies to operate a number of parks that included Ad-Doha park in Al-Guriyat district, Rawabi Al-Aseel next to the National Medical Center and Radwan Park in Al-Rehab district.
Tariq Hamza Shalabi, director of Municipal Services Protection Program, told Al-Watan that 15 public and private sector developers have so far completed work on only six public parks. The program is still in its initial stages, he said, adding that the pace of work is gradually increasing.
© The Saudi Gazette 2008
