Dr. Khaled M. Batarfi
“Did you know that the amount of rain which fell on the city of Jeddah last Tuesday amounted to 57 million cubic meters of water? And what the tens of dams that have been built since the last flood, in 2011, contained reached 49 million cubic meters? Did you know that the rain in urban areas of Jeddah was no more than 8 million cubic meters?,” my interlocutor said, quoting an official meteorological report, and added, “Would you believe that the rain clouds stretched from Obhur, in the very north of the city, to Al-Khumra in southern Jeddah? This is over 100 kms! It is very huge!”
I did not know this information, and it was helpful to be briefed before I write about the sinking of Jeddah for the third time. The data show that the problem this time is not the floods that overwhelmed the city twice, (2010, 2011), and that the Emirate of Makkah Region’s project, supervised by the Saudi Oil Company (Aramco), has achieved its objectives in absorbing the floods in the dams, tunnels and pipes. It is worth mentioning that the 60 km ring of tunnels that was dug during King Faisal era, has been extended to 300 km.
These facts were absent in the reports, comments and tweets published in the traditional and social media. Also missed is the fact that the flood project, under the authority of Makkah Emirate and Aramco, is different than the storm water project, under Jeddah Municipality and Ministry of Municipal Affairs, or the Sewage System project under the National Water Company, and the Water Ministry. (Are you not confused, yet?)
If the public is forgiven for the confusion and for blaming all state departments for the failure of some, there is no excuse for our media’s ignorance or neglect. Such information is widely published and is readily available in state websites and through their spokespersons. As a result of such information’s absence, harsh comments were made by the public on the performance of officials and employees of the agencies involved. The blame was universal towards all public servants, even those who deserved to be thanked for a job well done. They include the departments of the Civil Defense, Traffic, Police forces, Red Crescent, as well as the thousands of volunteers who helped and supported state and private organizations’ efforts.
Some of our media reports were lacking in professionalism and honesty. A tunnel that did its job of carrying the storm waters away from surrounding urban areas, was called a failure. A flood in the yet uncovered, unfinished parts of the new airport, was called corruption. Pictures and video clips of previous floods were used in the coverage of the current crisis.
True, we, in the media, did not succeed, in many instances, in giving a complete and fair picture of what happened. Some of our reports failed the test of professionalism. However, we are not to be blamed for the crisis. We were not those who promised after each disaster that it would never happen again. We are not responsible for not building adequate storm water and sewage systems after all the billions that were spent on these projects. And, we are not those who were charged with corruption, but have yet to be punished, four years after. With or without faulty media coverage, there is a problem that needs to be addressed, corrupt or incumbent officials to be punished or replaced, and anxious citizens to be assured.
The public is not interested in who is responsible for what, and what project belongs to which department. Meteorological reports that showed how much worse it could have been if it wasn’t for dam and tunnel projects are not of citizens’ concern. Technical details only interest bureaucrats.
For a widow whose home was flooded three times in a row, she needs to know for sure: Who is responsible, what measures have been taken against them, what guarantees are given that her house will not sink again?
I am optimistic that the report submitted by the Emirate of Makkah Region to the Royal Court would give a detailed and transparent account of what happened and why. More important is the report’s recommendations for fixing the problem at the root, once and for all.
In my opinion, there would be no hope for a solution, unless we take away the responsibility of building the drainage and sewage networks from the Jeddah Municipality and the National Water Company, and assign it to the same ministerial committee, headed by Prince Khaled Al Faisal, Governor of Makkah Region, that managed to build the project of flood drainage as advertised, and delivered as promised.
Dr. Khaled M. Batarfi is a Saudi writer based in Jeddah. He can be reached at kbatarfi@gmail.com. Follow him at Twitter:@kbatarfi
