He also urged panels set up to assess damage caused by the deluge to individuals and businesses to complete their work within a month. He agreed to increase the number of such panels to speed up the assessment.
Prince Khaled, who is chairman of an executive committee set up by Second Deputy Premier and Minister of Interior Prince Naif, emphasized the need to meet all demands of the flood victims. There were complaints that compensation offered was much less than the value of properties damaged.
“Prince Naif’s instructions in this respect are very clear and frank as he had stressed that compensation should be rewarding to the victims,” the governor said, while meeting with Jeddah Gov. Prince Mishaal bin Majed and representatives of the panels. “I will not accept it if the compensation is not rewarding to the victims,” Prince Khaled insisted.
He also said that the panels should use a different mechanism to calculate and pay compensation compared to that used in the Nov. 2009 floods.
According to statistics, the Jan. 26 floods damaged 7,702 properties and 5,975 vehicles.
A ministerial committee meeting in Jeddah, chaired by Prince Naif, had called for the quick payment of compensation to the flood victims. It also wanted specialized international companies to be awarded contracts to establish a state-of-the art rainwater drainage system for Jeddah.
Prince Naif said the executive committee would conduct studies on the causes of Jeddah floods and follow up implementation of projects to prevent future floods. Work on the project should start within a month, he insisted.
The executive committee has been given extraordinary powers to award contracts, he said.
Prince Naif stressed that strong action would be taken against negligent individuals and institutions who were partly responsible for the flooding and its aftermath. The Civil Defense will be beefed up and provided with additional manpower and equipment to carry out its mission quickly and effectively at times of catastrophes.
The ministerial committee also decided to appoint a specialized international company to study rainwater drainage projects for underdeveloped areas in Jeddah as well as the city’s sewage network.
New rainwater drainage projects will be implemented based on the company’s studies, an official statement after the meeting said. Qualified international firms will be awarded the contracts, it added.
