Faisal, Emir of Makkah, said Thursday that “everyone who planned the city of Jeddah… is responsible for the damage caused by rains and floods”. Prince Khaled, speaking to Okaz/Saudi Gazette in the light of warnings from King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, that all persons found responsible would be shown no leniency, said that he could not “name names”. “But what I can say is that the people who planned the city of Jeddah and made its streets from the beginning up to today are all responsible,” he said. “The problem this time is different, as last time involved flash floods coming in from outside the city, but this time the damage has been caused by the collection of water and not by flash floods.” He made the remarks having witnessed earlier in the day the scenes in the city during an aerial tour in the company of Jeddah Governor Prince Mish'al Bin Majed. Prince Khaled said that orders from King Abdullah and Crown Prince Sultan Bin Abdul Aziz, Deputy Premier, Minister of Defense and Aviation and Inspector General, have been put into “immediate effect”, and noted that the quantities of accumulated water he saw from the air, reaching in some places up to 120 cubic millimeters, would “inevitably cause damage wherever it occurred”. “But what has happened in Jeddah is even worse because the city has no rain or flood drainage system,” he said. “We can't say this year that we were taken by surprise, as we were expecting rain, and instructions to that effect had been issued to the relevant bodies to make the necessary preparations. Preparations were made, but maybe in some people's view they weren't enough, but that's what's available.” He said, however, that everyone could be proud of the response of rescue services, and “particularly the public”. “I would like to offer special thanks to them for their help in coming to the aid of the stranded,” he said. “This shows the Islamic, Arab and Saudi spirit and morals, of which we should all be proud.” Prince Khaled assured the public that everything possible would be done to alleviate the damage. “We promise you and we promise the people that we will spare no effort in giving our all in terms of ideas, studies and viewpoints,” he said. “We have great hope that future projects will be done quickly and comprehensively and in a way that addresses the very roots of the problem.”
