Recommendations for development of Jeddah’s historical district approved

The higher committee for the development of Jeddah’s historical area has decided to speed up efforts to include it in the list of UNESCO’s world heritage sites.
The decision was taken at a committee in Jeddah yesterday.
Makkah Gov. Prince Khaled Al-Faisal chaired the meeting that President of the Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities (SCTA) Prince Sultan bin Salman also attended.
Efforts to find a place in the heritage list will be undertaken by SCTA and the Jeddah municipality.
The required registration documents for the UNESCO list will have to be ready before the end of September and the final papers submitted on Jan. 31.
As part of its efforts to undertake the development of the historic neighborhoods, the meeting also decided to set up three committees, including a higher committee, executive committee and technical committee.
Prince Khaled is the chairman of the higher committee, whose members include Prince Sultan, Jeddah Gov. Prince Mishaal bin Majed, Jeddah Mayor Hani Abu Ras and an undersecretary from the Ministry of Finance.
The Jeddah governor is the head of the second committee and its membership comprises SCTA officials, the Jeddah mayor and officials from the Ministry of Water and Electricity, Directorate of Civil Defense, Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Endowment, Call and Guidance and the development agency at the Makkah governorate.
The Jeddah mayor is the head of the third committee for technical matters.
Its members are drawn from the Jeddah governorate, SCTA, mayor’s office and the Center for Urban Heritage.
The meeting also decided to entrust the Jeddah municipality with the responsibility of allocating the required funds to estimate and repair the damage to historic sites caused by rain and flooding last year as well as estimating the cost of rescue activities. The meeting also decided to prepare new plans to deal with the historical zones in line with the recommendations of a consultative meeting chaired by Prince Sultan.
The meeting also recommended the Jeddah municipality should finance and operate a center to register heritage buildings.
The SCTA will work with experts to review the policy on how to deal with old buildings in the area.
Another decision of the meeting was to entrust the municipality to open a technical unit for the building projects of property owners in the area to ensure such schemes meet the specifications set for the historic zone. The recommendations also include the setting up of a team comprising the SCTA, Jeddah municipality, and the General Endowment Administration to repair historical mosques in the city.
The municipality will have to undertake renovation of dilapidated electrical and telephone utilities.
The meeting also entrusted a consultative agency to prepare a viability study to establish a new company called the Jeddah Historic City Company and to draw up its scope of activities and objectives.
The meeting also asked the SCTA and the municipality to prepare a rehabilitation program for workers in the historical region.