‘Greedy' landlords to blame for renting out historic buildings MAKKAH - A senior Civil Defense Directorate official has defended his organization's recent firefighting efforts in historic Old Jeddah and has blamed ‘greedy' landlords who rent out historic buildings and ‘careless' businesspeople, who do not have proper fire-safety equipment. The comments of Major General Adel Zamzami, Director General of the Civil Defense Directorate in the Makkah Region, come in the wake of the latest fire in Jeddah destroying a number of historic buildings. As a result, efforts are underway to cover Jeddah with an integrated SR50 million fire-extinguishing network to protect the coastal city from fires. A team of Civil Defense experts are also part of the plan. A perturbed Zamzami, in a interview with Okaz, said that nothing can protect Jeddah from fires. This could only happen if the entire city was evacuated of its inhabitants, vehicles, factories and all kinds of business activities. In such a situation, no one would ever hear about any fire gutting buildings or workshops, he said. “All statistics, studies and assessments we compile from time to time, indicate that the number of fires falls within international rates. It might increase or decrease in a particular month, but it is still within the rates defined internationally, so there is nothing to worry about. Despite this fact, we have made considerable effort to reduce the number of fires through the strict implementation of safety rules.” However, Zamzami was critical of some business owners. “Some businessmen and investors do not respond to our demands. They do not secure all the requested safety equipment and machinery. The Arabic saying, ‘Touch my heart but don't touch my bread', applies exactly to them, in the sense that when a fire breaks out in their factories or warehouses they seek the help of the Civil Defense. But when we investigate the causes, we find that they lack the necessary safety equipment. This is one of the major reasons for the intensity of fires. This simply shows that they don't follow Civil Defense rules.” To protect the city, Zamzami said the Directorate is currently working on an integrated project with the Ministry of Water to set up a water network covering all districts in Jeddah. “This network will be devoted to the fighting of fires and will be used only if the need arises. This network will help us get rid of the traditional method of firefighting, which relies on water tanks. The network will include waterlines to specific areas and will be designed according to international standards. It will only be used when a fire breaks out in a district.” Zamzami said the plan would focus on the districts in Jeddah that are vulnerable to fires, especially the areas in Old Jeddah. “It is not the direct responsibility of Civil Defense to protect archaeological sites. It should be understood that Civil Defense does not differentiate between archeological areas and other areas. When a fire breaks out in any location, firefighting teams immediately move to put out the blaze.” A major problem in the historical areas is not only a lack of safety equipment, but also the greed for money of some landlords who rent these old buildings to expatriates and illegal aliens. “We are seriously considering submitting a proposal to the Governor of Jeddah to issue a decision to prevent landlords from hiring out historic buildings. These buildings should be confined to visitors and tourists.” Zamzami said that legislation was needed to ensure that landlords conform. A further way to protect the industrial city from fires is to separate workshops with fireproof concrete walls. This is one way to curb the spread of fires. Zamzami said the media should be careful about making assumptions that the fires are linked to criminal activity. However, Civil Defense investigators do consider this possibility when probing the causes of a fire. He rejected accusations that firefighting teams are not quick enough to respond to fire alarms.
