- JEDDAH: Only 30 percent of houses in the Kingdom benefit from sewage networks, said Suleiman Al-Basaily, director of sewage at the Ministry of Water and Electricity, on Monday.
“Out of 19 cities in the Riyadh province, only four have sewage services,” Al-Basaily said in a radio interview conducted by Dawood Al-Shirian.
He said about 40 percent of houses in Riyadh and 25 percent of houses in Jeddah benefit from sewage services.
“The implementation of the current five-year development plan will increase the number of households benefiting from the sewage network to 60 percent,” the official said.
During the interview, it was disclosed that about 200 deaths are reported every year as a result of people falling in sewage tanks.
Adel Al-Malki, a Saudi, has filed a lawsuit against municipal authorities following the death of his 13-year-old daughter after she fell into a sewage tank.
A number of children died falling in open sewage tanks, especially during the Jeddah deluge last November. Most sewage tanks in the Kingdom do not fulfill safety conditions, according to commentators.