Sultan Al-Anqari

Al-Madinah

 

I HAVE just come back from a long trip during which I visited several cities and towns in different countries, all of which had rain, sometimes heavy and other times a drizzle. People in all these places were enjoying the rain and celebrating its fall.



I myself had a beautiful experience there. While it was raining, nothing had changed and life went on as usual. People were walking under the rain holding their umbrellas and heading to work or home. They were not frightened that the streets would be flooded or they would fall inside a manhole.



For two consecutive months rain had been falling incessantly but I had not seen any flooded streets. Had I not seen the rain falling, I would have assumed there was no rain because the streets were almost dry and no pool of waters had formed.



The cities and towns I have been to must have strong infrastructure that was built properly by honest people. That is why people feel safe during rain.



While there, I did not hear a single story where the rain flooded the streets during these wet seasons. These stories are only common in our society when the rainy season kicks off.



I noticed another thing. People are busy implementing intellectual and cultural projects, not infrastructure projects because they had already been built in the past on strong foundations.



I arrived in Jeddah on Sunday, which was a rainy day. As usual, nothing had changed. We still hear sad stories, news of public property losses and constant warnings about rain.



Still, people capture scenes of damage caused by rain on their cellphones and post them online. Officials continue to say and do the same thing. No single thing has changed.



I have not heard or read any statement made by the Jeddah Municipality in which the official apologizes or admits negligence, let alone hands in his resignation. These are remote possibilities that would never occur to the official’s mind.



Why? Because the rainy season will end soon, people will talk about it for few days then forget or pretend to forget their losses so that they can go on with their lives.



The simple question for which I expect no answer is: For how long we will stay like that? For how long will rain continue to be viewed as a catastrophe? When will we ever enjoy rain just like others do?



Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah once said, “How come poor cities close to us do not have such rain-related accidents.”