IT was said the well in which 6-year-old Lama Ayidh Al-Rawqi fell to her death several days ago while picnicking with her family in Haql governorate was dug by a welfare lover. This was used as an excuse to avoid holding the owner of the well accountable for any responsibility. I wish so much that we were safe from this man's charity work and his ill-fated well. If what was said about the well digger was true, I want to make it clear good intentions and charity work do not absolve philanthropists from responsibility. He should have secured the well's location before he started digging. Let us ask the farm owners: How many times have the representatives of the Civil Defense, the Ministry of Agriculture or the municipality knocked on your doors to inspect your farms and check the safety of your wells? I asked this question to a person who owns a farm and he told me that the only time a representative of the municipality came to him was to threaten him with a fine if he did not erect a signboard showing the name of the farm. Little Lama's case has become a tragedy of confusion and chaos due to the efforts to dig out her body. People have lost confidence in the official circles responsible for the rescue operations. The rescuers should be well trained to deal with any incident that may require their efforts. Falling into wells is not a rare incident. It happens almost every day all over the world. Have the girl's rescuers sought the help of any of these countries or tried to benefit from their experiences before it was too late?
