Business & Money | Sunday 18 December, 2016 11:38 am |

Saudi investors and job seekers have expressed their dismay over the continuing delay in establishing Jeddah’s fourth industrial estate in Asfan while investors accused Saudi Industrial Property Authority (MODON) of its information blackout on the project.

Sami Al-Husseini, manager for marketing and corporate communications, said work on the industrial city project was progressing in phases. “We have completed designs for its industrial, housing and commercial zones,” he told Al-Madina Arabic daily.

He also claimed that the project’s first phase, which includes construction of roads, lighting and protection against floods, have been completed.

“We have also approved a number of new projects including construction of infrastructure facilities and a compound wall,” he explained.

But members of the industrial committee at Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI) and some women entrepreneurs have a different story to tell.

Nasser Basahel, a member of the committee, told Al-Madina that MODON has failed to keep industrialists and investors abreast of the new industrial city project.

“The industrial city project was announced in 2012. We have not seen any substantial progress yet except the announcement that the new city was designed for women to work in an atmosphere suitable for them,” Basahel said.

“A lack of clear information about the project gives a bad impression about the city. MODON has removed all information about the project from its website as well as its signboard in Asfan,” he added.

Industrialist Ibrahim Al-Fahmi believed that it would take at least 10 years to launch the new industrial city given the pace of progress of work on the ground.

“Investors have visited the region to see the progress of work. They were disappointed to see only 10 percent of the work completed. There is no infrastructure, electricity and paved roads. The reasons for the project’s disruption are obscure,” he explained.

Al-Fahmi said MODON was making attractive advertisements to woo industrialists and investors, offering land for SR3 per sq. meter. It has promised that all facilities and services will be made available in the industrial city for investors to start their projects.

“But the reality is totally the opposite,” he pointed out.

Aymen Bin Taleb, an investor and a member of the committee, highlighted the new industrial city’s significance in boosting the Kingdom’s economic development. “It will create job opportunities for young Saudi men and women,” he told Al-Madina.

Meanwhile, a committee member who requested anonymity said his organization was instrumental in obtaining 5 million sq. meters of land for the new industrial city in Asfan. However, he expressed fears that the price per sq. meter would jump to SR60 when the place would be actually handed over to investors after development.

Ghadeer Abdullah, who manages an industry in Jeddah, said women industrialists and businesswomen had received the news of Asfan industrial city with great expectations. “The project’s disruption has disappointed us,” she told Al-Madina.

Suad Ahmed, supervisor of an industry, also expressed her disappointment about the new industrial city. “We don’t expect to have a full-fledged industrial city for women,” she added.

Ibrahim Batterjee, chairman of the industrial committee, refused to make any comment on the issue until he finds the reason for the project’s disruption.