SEC, STC and NWC blamed for damaging roads in Jeddah

Additional work on the roads in Jeddah carried out by contractors of Saudi Electricity Company (SEC),National Water Company (NWC) and Saudi Telecom Company (STC), is damaging the city’s transport infrastructure, a Jeddah Municipality study has said. 

The study, carried out by an international organization, found that the three bodies are responsible for much of the ongoing construction disfiguring the streets of Jeddah. 

The study found that SEC contractors were responsible for some 4,000 violations, NWC contractors for 1,400, and STC for another 800.

The study also found that contractors failed to adhere to quality control standards for road construction, and that there were no quality consultants for these projects. 

The international organization has recommended tougher penalties for those found destroying asphalt. It has also recommended hiring of full-time quality consultants. 

The study found few other causes behind the poor condition of Jeddah roads. 

The study found that road damage was 40 percent due to low quality of construction, 40 percent due to bad management and 20 percent due to inadequate security and safety measures. 

The study also recommended construction of tunnels or public service roads, and that companies in charge of road construction resurface the entire road where additional work has been carried out, rather than do a just patch-over work.

Municipality spokesman, Muhammad Al-Bugmi, said holes, cracks, and uneven surfaces of Jeddah roads were due to incomplete infrastructure networks, recurrent construction with contractors failing to cover holes adequately, a lack of planning by companies providing telecommunication services, rising groundwater levels and recurrent malfunctioning of the sewage system. 

Al-Bugmi claimed that much of the damage was outside of the municipality’s control.