MAKKAH: Makkah Gov. Prince Khaled Al-Faisal on Saturday emphasized the need to develop undeveloped Makkah districts by providing them with full-fledged health, cultural and social facilities and services to improve the lives of their residents.
"Unplanned districts are not just the problem of Makkah or Saudi Arabia. It's a global problem and one can find unplanned districts even in major cities of the world...the United Nations gives utmost importance to this issue," the governor said.
Prince Khaled was speaking to reporters after witnessing the signing of an agreement for the establishment of a chair at Umm Al-Qura University for the development of undeveloped districts in Makkah. The chair named after the prince will be financed by Binladin Group.
The governor thanked Umm Al-Qura and the Binladin Group for their initiative. "The development of undeveloped Makkah districts was the first project I presented to Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah after becoming Makkah governor," he said.
King Abdullah then ordered the formation of a committee under the chairmanship of Crown Prince Naif, deputy premier and minister of interior. At present there are six ministers in the committee. "Time has come to change the situation of these districts, and we have a caring leadership to implement the project," he said.
A survey was conducted to develop certain districts and officials found that land in some areas were owned by a single person. The governor called for the cooperation of public and private sectors and the society to develop these districts.
The university has established the chair as part of its scientific and research initiative to work on more than 100 undeveloped districts in the Makkah region. Saudi Binladin Group will finance the activities of the chair during its five-year term.
Bakri Assas, president of the university, told Arab News that the chair would help translate into reality the vision of the Saudi leadership to transform undeveloped districts into modern urban districts with all infrastructure facilities.
The university president unveiled the chair's plans to undertake scientific documentation of various phases of the project for developing target districts in the Makkah region, with special focus on the administrative, technical, organizational, humanitarian, security and economic domains.
© Arab News 2012
