Jeddah flood deaths shame Saudi royals

For lack of a sewage system, many citizens in one of the world's richest countries died. The Al Saud family's misrule is to blame

Ali al-Ahmed
(Director of the Institute for Gulf Affairs)

guardian.co.uk, Thursday 3 December 200

"Last week the Saudi city of Jeddah was afflicted by heavy rains that lasted only a few hours but caused massive flooding and the deaths of more than 500 people. To lessen the embarrassment, official reports shrank the number of flood-related deaths to just over 100.

Many Saudis are asking how such a catastrophe could occur in one of the world's richest countries and in its second-largest and most cosmopolitan city.

This was the most severe nature-related calamity that the world's largest oil exporter has seen in the past 50 years but the real reason for the death and destruction that occurred last Wednesday is endemic corruption in the Saudi government......

The state of our country is best exemplified by the Musk Lake, where 1,200 tankers of human waste from Jeddah sewage have been dumped daily for the past 25 years. Naming this chasm of foulness "musk" gives great insight in how Saudi rulers distort the simplest of realities. Musk Lake, not the only lake of human waste in the country, has been the source of diseases such as dengue fever, which has killed dozens and afflicted thousands for years.

At the end of the day, the Saudi absolute monarchy will absolve itself from any responsibility and shortcomings, and its princes will continue live the high life with very little care in the world......"