A team of the Saudi Development and Reconstruction Program for Yemen (SDRPY) commenced its mission through visiting Marib – Al-Aber strategic road for the sake of preparing a field study on the rehabilitation needs of the 250km road.

Marib – Al-Aber strategic road is the sole land connection between Yemen and Saudi Arabia from one side and Oman from the other.

The team was headed by Abdullah Alwaleedi who clarified that the visit comes after being assigned by Mohammed Al Jaber, Saudi Ambassador to Yemen and Supervisor of SDRPY, to explore the technical condition of the road and to submit results to relevant bodies.

Chief of Technical Bureau in Marib Dr. Ali al-Jabal, who accompanied the Saudi team, said that the road has totally collapsed and is now jeopardizing passengers’ lives due to the huge pressure on it, the overloaded locomotives and the absence of maintenance in the past seven years.

Jabal added that the leadership shown by the province's governor Sultan al-Arada had already endorsed the rehabilitation of the road, in cooperation with the government, and that it had launched the first phase of the missions for a 4km distance.

So far, 60 percent of this phase has been completed and the first stage will be finalized within the coming months, he added. Jabal expressed gratitude on behalf of the local authority in Marib to the Yemeni and Saudi governments for this initiative.