RIYADH/JEDDAH: Prince Sultan Bin Salman Bin Abdul Aziz, president of the Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities, has issued directives to put the Permanent Committee for Emergencies on around-the-clock standby to coordinate with the SCTA office in Jeddah to help flood victims, some of whom said they had been turned away by owners of furnished apartments when they sought shelter. Maj. Abdullah Al-Amri, official spokesman of Civil Defense in Makkah Region, said Civil Defense teams used helicopters to airlift 200 people stranded at different locations on the first day of heavy rain and flooding and rescued more than 80 others east of the expressway by using rubber boats. Those who were rescued were taken to furnished apartments serving as shelter centers, he added. Muhammad Al-Amri, Executive Director of SCTA in Makkah Region, explained to Okaz/Saudi Gazette the procedures that were being taken to make sure that flood victims find accommodation. Al-Amri said, “We provided the Civil Defense Administration with a list of all the hotels and furnished apartments so as to direct the rain and flood victims to them after informing these facilities to cooperate with the Civil Defense by accommodating the victims. In addition, we set up a special operations room to receive complaints against uncooperative hotels and furnished apartments.” Majid Bin Ali Al-Shiddi, director general of Information and Public Relations and spokesman of the SCTA, said the organization is continuously coordinating with the Civil Defense in Jeddah to ensure citizens and expatriates who are referred to hotels and furnished housing units are provided accommodation. Al-Shiddi stressed that the SCTA would not hesitate to pursue the maximum measures and penalties against violators of the directives. “Only one case of not responding to the Civil Defense directives has been registered, against a hotel on Palestine Street,” he said. “When an investigation was started, the hotel management immediately sent a cable stating that it would accept all cases sent to it.” The SCTA office in Jeddah has called on citizens and expatriates to report immediately any acts of exploitation in the aftermath of the flood that hit the city Wednesday, through its fax number, 02-4203344. People should explain what happened to them and specify the name of the business, its location, the amount they paid, the complainant's name and means of calling. Al-Shiddi said immediate action would be taken against violators and matters would be referred to the region's emirate or the Jeddah Governor's Office. He pointed out that Prince Sultan Bin Salman's directives included support for committees supervising rescue efforts and following up the situations of the victims and the role required of the Commission to help. Al-Shiddi said Prince Sultan underlined the Commission's confidence that owners of tourism accommodation facilities would cooperate in receiving flood victims – citizens and expatriates – and support them by providing all facilities under the difficult circumstances they are facing. Okaz/Saudi Gazette has learned that occupancy in these accommodation facilities in Jeddah reached 100 percent Thursday as a number of flood victims complained that they had been turned away. Several owners of furnished apartments said they have not been informed about the Civil Defense directives. Eyewitnesses said water gushing from the dam flooded Al-Nakheel planned district and inundated the ground floors of buildings, which forced residents to move to the furnished apartments and fill them to their capacity. Okaz/Saudi Gazette carried out a tour to get the opinions of furnished apartment owners. Hisham Ma'rouf, a businessman and real estate and furnished apartments owner, described receiving the families from the flood-hit areas as “a humanitarian and national duty that should be carried out without waiting for directives.” Owners of furnished apartments received directives Wednesday, through the mass media, to receive victims of the rain and floods. The Civil Defense Administration also sent official letters to owners of furnished apartments and stressed the need to receive all flood victims, register them and provide their names. Hassan Al-Omari, who owns furnished apartments, said he received more than eight families whose homes were flooded, in what he called a humanitarian action, and did so before he received instructions from the Civil Defense or other authorities. Hamad Al-Bargi, a receptionist in a furnished apartments building, said they received the directives and provided accommodation to flood victims. He said the occupancy in their apartments has reached 100 percent and added that some charitable societies have provided the guests with food and other assistance. Abdul Aziz Al-Zahrani, a Saudi resident of Al-Nakheel planned district, said he went with his family to a furnished apartment and did not face any obstacles, but a relative told him that some owners of furnished apartments refused to receive him and his family unless they paid the rent. Hamdan Al-Sibei, a resident of Umm Al-Khair District, said he was turned away when he and his family sought shelter in a furnished apartment. “When it started raining, my family and I were not at home so we were forced to resort to a furnished apartment, but the owner refused to receive us,” he said. “After spending five hours in our car looking for some place to stay, other furnished apartment owners expressed their readiness to receive us. The receptionist told us that in the first few hours of rain, they had not received directives to receive flood victims. He said the instructions were received after 5 PM.”
