JEDDAH: Residents of areas hit by the recent Jeddah floods have criticized relief agencies for not acting quick enough in delivering aid with some claiming charities took six days to respond to the emergency.
Speaking to Arab News, residents said that although the floods hit Jeddah on Nov. 25, relief agencies only came to their help on Dec. 1. “Though the areas that were hit the most only represent about five percent of Jeddah, it took over five days before any of the aid agencies appeared on the scene,” said a citizen, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
“Up and until that time, there were no male or female volunteers in Quwaizah which was the most hit,” he added.
Residents also pointed out that a number of welfare organizations — including among others the Jeddah Welfare Organization, the Civic Council, the World Assembly of Muslim Youth (WAMY) and the Jeddah Friends Committee — held their first meeting on how to carry out relief work at the headquarters of the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Dec. 1, six days after the disaster.
Many residents in the affected areas told Arab News that they were not in need of aid. “These organizations have not done anything for us. We, on our part, do not want anything from them. We have come out of this predicament with the generous help of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah who did not leave us in need of anyone,” said Abu Nifaia, a resident of Quwaizah.
He said the king has provided people with accommodation until their homes are fixed. “The cost of living is given in cash to us and to our wives and kids,” he added.
A young resident in Al-Sawaid district, one of the more badly affected areas, said people were in need of a lot of relief, including bottles of water, in the first three days after the floods.
“Myself and many young men toured the district delivering water and food to families who were still there,” he said.
“The committees of the Jeddah governorate rushed to our help. We were accommodated in furnished apartments. At first we had to go to the headquarters of the Civil Defense to obtain a letter for accommodation but when the Civil Defense noted the difficulty we faced to reach them, they built a support center close to our area,” he said.
“After that, we were given cash from the king to bear the cost of living. We are not in need of welfare organizations or their help,” he added.
Some victims asked the investigation committee under Makkah Gov. Prince Khaled Al-Faisal, which is investigating the cause of the disaster, to look into why charities were slow to help.
