JEDDAH: Saudis are calling for more investigation committees similar to the one established in the wake of the Jeddah floods to root out corruption, which they claim has reached frightening levels.
They said corruption was a common occurrence throughout the Kingdom and not limited to Jeddah.
Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah had ordered a probe into whether the flooding disaster was due to the negligence of key government officials.
“Administrative corruption is everywhere. There are a number of projects here which were approved more than five years ago and still not completed,” Saudi citizen Abdullah Al-Mitairi told Arab News. He also claimed some of the approved projects had faded from existence without explanation.
“The behavior of some government officials is suspicious. Some senior officials have obtained land in affluent locations while others have confiscated land assigned for services.”
Al-Mitairi accused municipality staff of becoming wealthy businessmen through illegal means. “Going from rags to riches raises many questions. How can a regular employee suddenly become immensely wealthy without raising question marks?”
Nasser Al-Johani, another citizen, said many of the public lands on the Corniche and along Yanbu-Al-Nakeel Road have been converted into private properties for social dignitaries and affluent people. “These lands have obstructed the implementation of important projects the government was planning to execute,” he said, querying whether corruption and nepotism was only limited to Jeddah.
Al-Johani believed that the tragedy in Jeddah has brought to light illegal activities that had initially been taking place behind closed doors.
Fellow citizen Khaled Al-Sulami saw a silver lining to the Jeddah crisis. “The disaster and subsequent forming of the investigation committee has unraveled bogus projects,” he said.
Al-Sulami revealed that there were sewage projects in Yanbu that did not amount to more than vents on the ground while disguising the lack of a proper drainage system underground. “The lighting projects are not any more than new lamps placed on top of old posts and then designated as completed. If we checked them, then we would find the finished product do not fulfill the conditions as stipulated in the contracts,” he said. Al-Sulami also claimed hospital contractors were abusing their contracts by buying food very cheaply and selling them at astronomical profit.
Abid Al-Harbi is another who believed that the Jeddah crisis might eventually have a good outcome both for the country and its citizens, pointing to the toll free number the public can use to report corruption, which was set up after the investigation committee was formed.
He, however, added that rooting out corrupt officials would be difficult as they were secretive and only worked with people whom they could trust to cover their backs. He called for expanding the authority of monitoring bodies and undercover investigators to unveil the corruption and favoritism that has embittered the country and affected its resources.
