Batn village, west of Bisha, have claimed that continued excavations in a valley near the village are creating sand barriers that could again, like last year, divert flood waters into their homes. Fayez Khaled Al-Sari and his brother Ali said, “There are some people and companies doing a thriving business by selling the sand in the valley which is used for construction purposes. The random digging has increased the depth of the valley and created sand barriers which prevent the flow of the flood waters into the valley. This could see the water flow into the village like it did last year.” They said residents have lodged a complaint with the governorate against the contracting companies and some individuals. The governorate has not taken any action so far, they said. They said it appears that officials will wait until a disaster takes place before taking action, just like in Jeddah. Batti Bin Sayyaf and Sayyaf Bin Muhammad described the situation as “very fearful and worrisome”. They said the sand barriers are as large as mountains and that the flooding could take place at any time. Saeed Hamad Al-Aklabi, Chairman of the Valleys Committee in the governorate, said the committee has raised the matter with officials at the governorate and explained the danger to their village and other neighboring villages such as Al-Meqtr, Qouz, Al-Sahreef and Al-Batn. He said the committee only has powers to monitor and report encroachments. He said the committee has reported these violations to the encroachment committee in the governorate but this has fallen on deaf ears.
