JEDDAH: Claiming negligence on the part of the municipality, Ali Al-Saab — the father of Fatima who drowned off Al-Nawras in Jeddah last month — has filed a lawsuit against the municipality at the Court of Grievances demanding SR1 million in compensation for the loss of his 17-year-old daughter.
Local daily Al-Watan reported on Saturday that the father retained legal representation to file the lawsuit.
“The municipality is responsible because it kept the vent for the discharging of sewage water directly at the shore and not deep in the sea,” one of the unidentified lawyers said. “This is a gross violation of rules and regulations.”
The lawyer said the court has accepted the complaint and would start the hearing in the coming few days.
The lawyer said the municipality’s response that the water was not sewage was irrelevant to the case. Municipal officials had previously refuted allegations that the pipe was discharging “sewage” and said that the water is groundwater from the National Water Company’s citywide public works to install a sewage system.
The municipality pointed out that the work has caused the pipe to output far more water than it had before: Up to 200,000 cubic meters a day compared to the 7,000 cubic meters it had previously been discharging.
“The municipality should have placed enough warning signs and sufficient safety measures,” the lawyer said.
Fatima was picnicking with her family at Al-Nawras on July 9 when she disappeared into the Red Sea. Her body was found on July 20 about a kilometer south of Al-Nawras after a search operation that involved divers and boats.
It is believed that Fatima somehow drowned and the discharge pipe swept her body away from the area. It is unknown if the teen fell into the water or if the current played a role in her drowning.
The shoreline in the area is a drop-off to about 10-meter-deep water on the other side of a strip of rocks along the shore that was placed to prevent erosion.
