JEDDAH: Municipal and Rural Affairs Minister Prince Mansour bin Miteb said on Thursday his ministry has allocated a special budget for the development of flood-hit residential districts in east Jeddah.
“We have dealt with the Jeddah disaster following the vision and directives of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah,” he said, adding that the affected areas have returned to normal. He said the ministry has formed an expert committee to study the current situation of residential districts in wadis (valleys) or low-level areas prone to flooding across the country in order to take corrective measures.
“This committee will present its report to the king soon,” the minister said.
He said the ministry had cooperated with the committee set up by the king in order to find out any underlying reasons for the Nov. 25 floods and punish negligent officials.
He said the Jeddah disaster was caused by different factors. “We are now thinking of solutions to prevent a repeat of the catastrophe in the future.”
He said the ministry has allocated 100 plots in different parts of the Kingdom so the Public Housing Authority can establish low-cost housing units.
“They have requested plots in 118 places and we have so far provided 100. Efforts are underway to allocate plots in the remaining areas,” he added. He said his ministry would focus on four activities, including management of land, municipal services, rural development and urban development.
“We are trying our best to please citizens in all parts of the country by meeting their requirements.”
Prince Mansour said that there was a substantial increase in the ministry’s budgets over the past five years. He said the Municipal Council Law would be revised after considering the views of its members.
Meanwhile, a workshop on preventing the dangers posed by floods and rainfalls in Jeddah has led to 75 proposals. Participants have called for the demolition of real estate properties in flood pathways and for the setting up of a rainwater drainage system.
The proposals will be presented to Makkah Gov. Prince Khaled on Saturday. Deputy Mayor Khaled Oqail said the owners of real estate properties in wadis would be compensated if the government acquired them.
“They will be either given money or another piece of land in a suitable place,” he said. Three groups were formed for discussions at the workshop. The first team on planning included officials from the municipality, King Abdulaziz University and the Saudi Geological Survey.
The second team focused on land ownership and included representatives from the governorate, municipality and the Ministry of Justice, while the third team looking at floods included officials from the municipality, KAU, Civil Defense, Transport Department and the Presidency of Meteorology and Environment.
