A repeated tragedy that takes place every year; the rainwater has flooded the Saudi city of Jazan, causing the formation of water ponds in neighborhoods and streets, and the collapse of many roads, due to the government's inability to drain rainwater from the streets of cities and governorates.
The heavy rains that fell on Jizan revealed the poor implementation of infrastructure projects, such as paving roads and extending drainage networks, despite the urban growth that the city has witnessed in recent years.
A state of resentment appeared among the people of the area, as they expressed their dissatisfaction over the state’s failure in maintaining and extending infrastructure projects, and the abject failure in dealing with the crisis of rain and floods every year, in an area inhabited by more than 2 million people. The expansion of the area affected by the rainwater includes the city of Jizan, Abu Arish governorate, Sabya, Uhud Al-Masraha, Samtah, and Al-Ardah.
The residence demanded a speedy investigation into the projects implemented by the municipalities, after their failure and inability to perform the tasks for which they were established.
Recently, Abu Arish governorate witnessed a disaster that revealed that most of the drainage projects were built without observing the correct rules, causing the destruction of roads and the flooding of areas.
The torrential waters also flooded neighborhoods, towns, and villages in Jizan, after a large number of homes and shops were flooded, and electricity was cut off in large areas of the region, causing the traffic lights to malfunction. The boats traveling to Farasan also stopped due to bad weather, which made citizens wait under their umbrellas for long hours.
As for the governorates of Sabya, Baysh, and Al-Darb, large amounts of rain fell, as roads and streets filled up, and a giant lake was formed in the center of Sabya city near the Balad roundabout.
The heavy rainwater also caused the flooding of vegetable and fruit markets, productive families, and the mobile phone complex in the central region, which led to the closure of shops after traffic patrols closed the roads leading to the markets.
Inability to Find Solutions:
Despite the recurrence of the tragedy every year and the hundreds of millions spent to implement the city’s rainwater drainage network, failure is the right word to express what is happening in the governorates’ municipalities, under the leadership of bin Salman.
