A total of 181 apartments in flood-hit Quwaizah District have been repaired to allow families to return home, it was announced by the Social Work Commission at the Jeddah Chamber for Commerce and Industry (JCCI). The renovations have taken place with the help of private companies and charities. The project to rehabilitate homes forms part of a broader initiative being undertaken by the private sector and other organizations to help people resume their lives after the floods. Quwaizah was one of the worst hit areas on “Black Wednesday.” The JCCI has launched several campaigns to support evacuated people and has set up special teams to assist those in need. “We already formed a number of work teams under the supervision of the Real Estate Commission at the JCCI, with the participation of six private companies that cooperated and completed 120 apartments in one week,” said Mazen Batarji, head of the Social Work organizing committee at the JCCI. Last week, 61 apartments were repaired, he said. According to Batarji, more than 200 workers, engineers, and inspectors will continue to work in the flood areas to help repair damaged homes. “Each work team consists of five cleaners, five inspectors and one advisor. They will visit homes to determine the problems in these apartments and to fix the damage,” added Batarji. “Teams will be in charge of repairing the flood damage and to provide other services, including washing the apartments, removing clay, cleaning out the air conditioners, checking the electricity, extracting dirty water and buying new furniture for each apartment,” said Batarji. Plans are underway to repair more apartments. A further 61 apartments will be finished in the coming three days, added Batarji. In addition, the Al-Ahli National Commercial Bank will also contribute by rehabilitating 30 apartments at a cost of SR30,000. He said that the JCCI will publish a list of needs on its website to inform the public and companies about what is required to repair flood
