Makkah, Apr 17 (Arab News): With Makkah presently seeing a surge in the development of its random and underdeveloped districts (known in Arabic as Ashwa’iya), many inhabitants in these areas are moving elsewhere in the city, especially the city’s many steep mountains.

A number of development projects were announced in the holy city three years ago to demolish the city's Ashwa’iya districts and replace them with modern residential neighborhoods.

One of the districts targeted is the notorious Al-Mansour Street area — a hustling and bustling crime-infested neighborhood with narrow lanes and alleyways that is predominantly home to African nationals, many of whom are illegally resident in the Kingdom.

Many of Al-Mansour’s residents have now moved to the Umm Al-Joud district, particularly behind the traffic police office there. The area is rapidly being transformed into another Al-Mansour district.

A walk through this area reveals how illegals are building makeshift homes in the mountains of Umm Al-Joud, buying building material from construction stores dotted in the area.

Municipality inspectors often visit the area but are helpless in stopping the construction of illegal homes.

Local residents are particularly worried by their new neighbors. “The number of illegal Africans began to increase at the beginning of last year. They’re exploiting the presence of so many mountains in the area and are constructing homes during the night,” said local resident Muhammad Abdul Sattar.

“We’ve been left surprised and worried at the number of homes that have sprung up and the increase in overstayers and dodgy looking people coming through here,” he added.

“Our area has been transformed for the worse. When the municipality destroys a house, the overstayers gather the bricks and use them to build new ones. Men, women and children all work together to build homes,” he said.

Abdul Sattar said the illegal residents have begun to add new stories to their homes and are purchasing construction material from an unlicensed shop nearby.

Abu Adil, another Saudi resident, believes the Africans are a threat to the original residents of Abu Al-Joud district and are stealing land that does not belong to them.

“Young African girls frequently come into our districts looking for young men to seduce ... we’ve also stopped our young children, both boys and girls, from venturing out fearing sexual harassment and even abuse,” he said.

Abu Adil said the police need to increase their presence in the area to bring an end to the illegal construction of homes.

Shakir Ali said the illegals are also connecting their homes to the city’s sewage and electricity networks using ingenious methods.

“They extend plastic pipes to connect their homes to the city’s sewage system and get electricity by connecting their homes to those of local residents already connected to the Saudi Electric Company grid. They then make monthly payments to whoever’s home they’ve connected to,” he added.

Spokesman for Makkah police Maj. Abdul Mohsen Al-Maiman said police patrols tour all of the city’s districts looking for criminal violations.

“I call on the residents of the Umm Al-Joud district to report any incidents of crime such as robberies, fights or harassment so we can bring an end to this problem,” he added.