ETHICS

Ethics about Jeddah Floods and Sustainability

Ethics about Jeddah Floods and Sustainability

Ethics about Jeddah Floods

Jeddah has more than three million residents. The estimated water use is 200 liters per capita per day. Typically, 80% of potable water used for municipal purposes returns to the environment as wastewater. Since 85% of Jeddah area is not connected to sewerage pipelines, waste water accumulates in underground cesspools and later is transported by truck tankers to the lake for the past 10 years. (Eleish, 2009: 125)

Almost a year ago, Jeddah had woken up on a surprise, a deadly surprise to be more precise. The second largest city in the biggest oil exporter in the world had woken up to find itself drowning in two hours rain water. According to this piece of news, 94% of Jeddah residents (a sample of more than 4000) are expecting heavy rain this year and somehow expecting a repetition of the last two years crises! Keeping in mind the limitations and flaws of such online survey, the percentage is still high.

The heavy rains on Jeddah has paralyzed the city. Obviously, none of last year's lesson has been learned. The situation is beyond disastrous, with many losses in souls and property. Watch these videos and pray for the safety of people in Jeddah.

At least 44 people were killed in Jeddah after a heavy downpour. The rains caused a major infrastructure failure and the results were disastrous. My heart goes out to all Jeddawis. This would not have happened if the people of Jeddah had a say in how their city is run. This would not have happened if there was transparency and accountability in how our country is governed. (Schneider, 2009: 205)

In April a national census was carried out and the results showed that out of a total population of approximately 27 million, Saudis comprised 18 million. With 41 per cent of Saudis under the age of 14, youth, education and employment issues continued to remain a source of concern for the authorities. The Middle East Research Institute (MEMRI) reported that the November 2009 Jeddah floods sparked a dramatic increase in participation in online social forums such as Face-book and Twitter, with the 2010 Saudi Twitter usage increasing by 440 per cent

Wastewater Lake, known as Almisk Lake, has been the dumping site of Jeddah's sewage for the last ten years. A non-engineered earthen dike was built to prevent the wastewater polluted by toxic industrial wastes from flowing back to the city. Water levels are continuously rising. The Lake could overflow to Jeddah due to either massive flooding and/or any breach in either dam. With winter rains, probabilities of dangerous environmental consequences from wadi Bani Malek floods arise. Fears that Sewage Lake could overflow and flood Jeddah city are growing strongly. Residents in the east Jeddah highway are afraid of the dam collapsing.

Residents in the eastern districts of Quwaiza and Suleimaniya fear rainwater would encroach into their houses due to the poor drainage system in the ...