Muhammad Haida, secretary-general of the Committee for the Residents, said the committee, representing the city dwellers, had drawn the attention of the authorities to a number of their demands, but no steps were taken to address any of them. “For a long time, we have been demanding a face-lift of the entrance of the town. However, the road continues to remain narrow and stretches into further small streets extending into interior parts of the districts,” he said.
Muhammad Haida noted that a number of studies had been carried out and demands were raised every now and then with regard to improving the streets leading to the city center as well as to renovate the old buildings. “There are several dilapidated buildings that pose danger to public safety,” he said while stressing the need for new studies to refurbish the city center.
On his part, Abdullah Al-Zahrani, head of Khamis Mushayt municipality, said that the problem was mainly in the city center and its undeveloped districts. He explained that some studies had been conducted as part of drafting a design plan for the development of these districts. “The studies were similar to those carried out in the undeveloped districts of Jeddah and Makkah,” he said, adding that the municipality had also played a partnership role in conducting the studies together with engineering consultancy offices. According to Al-Zahrani, the municipality has already started a face-lift of the frontage of old Khamis Mushayt city region with new parking lots, sunshades and pedestrian pavements.
Meanwhile, Maj. Abdullah Shaathan, media spokesman of Asir police, told Arab News that security forces on a regular basis conducted pre-dawn raids on the old residential buildings, where most of the residents were foreigners. “Our criminal investigation squads closely monitor the suspected areas prior to the raids. These squads also present their reports and their observations with regard to the illegal activities taking place at such buildings to the concerned security agencies,” he said.
Saeed bin Mushayt, governor of Khamis Mushayt, noted that these old districts, dating back hundreds of years, had been developed without any proper planning and design works, and were densely populated.
According to Saeed, several studies, requests and reports aimed at refurbishing and re-organizing these districts and constructing new streets had been presented to the Asir Governorate. “We need more studies with regard to restructuring these districts as well as to estimate the number of properties in these districts prior to their expropriation and handing out compensation to the owners. There should be opportunities for major companies to make investments in the development of these districts in participation with some of the real estate owners,” he said.
Saeed noted that there had been specific directives from the authorities of the region and the municipality to refurbish those districts as well as to open new wide streets so as to ease traffic jams and put an end to illegal practices. The municipality had already presented its proposals to the governorate in this respect, he said. “It is essential to have a plan from the higher authorities to carry out studies about these districts. There should also be high level intervention to attract major investment companies and local banks to get actively involved in the process,” he said while stressing that refurbishing of these districts required a huge budget and support from investors.