Colonel Jamil Arba'een, Makkah's Chief of Civil Defense, on Wednesday criticized what he said was the Municipality of Makkah's slow action in removing condemned buildings, despite the hazards they pose to the public. Colonel Arba'een said that 150 buildings were identified as condemned in field inspections by Civil Defense officers during the first quarter of this year. However, to date, the municipality has failed to take action to tear down these buildings, he told Okaz on Wednesday. Arba'een added that the municipality is the authority concerned with the demolition of rundown buildings. The role of the Civil Defense Department, he continued, is that of back-up through its representative, who serves on the Committee for Rundown Buildings. He said that the Civil Defense Department had some correspondence with the municipality on the issue of these buildings, located in squatter districts in downtown Makkah. Despite the fact that these buildings are uninhabited, Arba'een said, they pose a threat to people and adjacent properties. Arba'een also called for the activation of the municipality's contractors, and criticized the mechanism by which buildings are torn down. “A notice is served to the owner three times”, he said. He called for the immediate tearing down of a building after a notice is served only once. “We cannot afford to waste more time on correspondence”, he said. Colonel Arba'een finally said that the Civil Defense Department raises a monthly report to the Emir of Makkah on whatever has been done. __
