Reverberations continue in Saudi Arabia over the tragic floodsin Jeddah. Though some expect the inquiry ordered by King Abdullah to result in the usual whitewash, others detect a breakthrough in holding public officials accountable.

The Saudi Jeans blog notes the unusually strong language of the royal decree setting up the inquiry:

“We cannot ignore the fact that there were mistakes and failures on the part of some departments and it is our duty to identify those responsible and take action against them.”

"By Saudi standards, this is not normal," the blog says. "The firm language of the decree makes believe that it is going to be different this time."

In a signed article for Arab News, Khaled Almaeena, the paper's editor, writes:

Look at back issues of newspapers and count the billions that have been appropriated for sewage projects, storm water drainage, water pipes, properly built roads and culverts. Had these things become reality, the act of God might well not have turned into an unimaginable disaster ...

We now hear voices saying that those whose houses were destroyed in the floods were wrong to build in the waterways and wadis. Who, we ask, were the officials who gave them permits for building? Where were the town planners? How was electricity supplied to their houses?

He continues:

The public asks what was done during the decades when those who were managers supposedly did their jobs. The bureaucrats may blame nature for the disaster but even in the heart of Jeddah, newly built bridges, underpasses and roundabouts were covered with water and rendered unusable. The rain, we hear over and over, was the cause of it all. Not the indifferent, heartless officials. Not the corrupt individuals. Not those who approved shoddy and substandard work.

King Abdullah’s setting up of an investigative body must have come as a shock to them; they might actually be held responsible for not having done what they were well-paid for many years to do. To ordinary citizens, on the other hand, to the families of those who died in the waters, to the sick and the orphans, the announcement was like a balm. King Abdullah has added two words to the Saudi vocabulary – transparency and accountability. They must be taken seriously by all officials.

Posted by Brian Whitaker, 7 December 2009.