The heavy rains that lashed Jeddah on Friday have highlighted the problem from which the coastal city has been suffering for decades – the ineffective drainage system that turns Jeddah into a lake every time it rains. As has always been the case, most of the city's streets have turned into pools of water causing great damage to thousands of cars. Mechanics are among the few who benefit from the rains, and it is normal to see workshops flooded with cars after every rain. Despite efforts exerted by the authorities to pump the rainwater from the streets, the blocked flood networks and canals have hampered efforts made to get rid of the water which has created traffic jams in the main streets and intersections, especially in the morning when people go to work and students go to school. The most affected district in Jeddah is Bani Malik as the rains have turned the area into one large pool of water. Naif Fahd Al-Mettari, a resident of Bani Malik, said, “All the inhabitants in Bani Malik suffer from the rains as all the alleys in the district turn into swamps which then serve as breeding grounds for mosquitoes and insects. These swamps take weeks to dry up, and besides raising the risk of the transmission of dengue fever, they also emit unbearably nasty smells. All of this is due to the lack of a sanitary drainage system. I need not mention that the people in the district suffer from these swamps for weeks because top priority is always given to posh districts with all available manpower being mobilized to service those areas.” Hamdan Al-Jahni, who lives in Al-Jamia District, said Jeddah has been suffering for years, if not decades, from the lack of an integrated sewage and storm water drainage system, pointing out that the present drains are too small to meet the requirements of a congested district like Al-Jamia. Ahmad Madkhali, who dwells in the Qrentina District in southern Jeddah, said, “The inhabitants in the district pay the price of the stagnant lagoons where rodents and insects multiply,” adding that this explains why most of the dwellers in that district suffer from infectious and epidemic diseases. Engineer Ayman Ghaitan Al-Zahrani, Director of Operations at Jeddah mayoralty, said the operation room has so far received about 750 calls from residents reporting that they have been besieged by floods, pointing out that reports show that the southern part of the coastal city was the most affected. He said the mayoralty has mobilized all its resources to pump the storm water, especially from the undeveloped districts in order to prevent the occurrence of any environmental disaster.
