Female members of the Jeddah Municipal Council have been absent from council meetings after lodging complaints over their treatment during meetings. Council members Lama Al-Sulaiman and Rasha Hifzi were not present at the council meeting that discussed the municipality's preparations to fight the Zika virus and dengue fever after objecting to being isolated from the board and forced to sit behind glass partitions. According to sources, Al-Sulaiman apologized for missing the meeting, but did not clarify the reasons, while her colleague Hifzi also apologized for not attending. The meeting was held in the presence of the assistant secretary for municipalities, assistant secretary for services and hygiene and officials of the anti-dengue campaign in the municipality, as well as budget director and all male members of the council. Okaz/Saudi Gazette learned that there were about 200 dengue fever cases last week, concentrated in the neighborhoods of south, central and east Jeddah. The president of the Municipal Council, Abdul Majeed Al-Batati, confirmed that the council was concerned about the spread of the disease and called for the meeting to discuss preventive measures. "We are afraid of Zika and discussed the role of the municipality in combating it before it appears," he said.
