King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, has ordered the prosecution of all persons accused of involvement in last year's Jeddah flood disaster that killed at least 123 people and damaged 10,785 buildings. In a Royal Decree issued Monday, the King also ordered the completion of investigations into all the names that appear in a report submitted by the investigation committee, and that those not directly connected to the disaster have separate cases drawn up against them and be referred to the relevant investigative authorities. The Royal Decree also issued orders to several government bodies and other institutions: The Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs is to open and extend the three drainage channels to discharge into valleys eastwards, and extend the east channel to Sharm Abhor. The Governorate of Makkah Province and the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs are asked to remove all obstacles blocking water passages and bridges and clear flood courses with open or covered channels. They are also ordered to remove soil embankments surrounding land in valleys or on flood courses. The Ministry of Water and Electricity has been given one year to rectify and rid Jeddah of the Misk sewage lake. Grants, compensation, ownership deeds and the sale of land on flood courses are to be halted. The Ministry of Justice is to produce a comprehensive documentation law containing the necessary conditions for notaries and other documenters and defining their jurisdictions, responsibilities, and work procedures, and governing their accountability and penalties for violations. The Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs are asked to produce a law governing real estate ownership and grants to prevent conditions which led to land encroachments and illegal ownership in breach of regulations and orders. Enforcing a previous Cabinet decision, King Abdul Aziz City for Science and Technology, the Saudi Geological Survey, and the Presidency of Meteorology and Environment are to draw up studies of areas at risk of flooding across the Kingdom, while the Cabinet's Commission of Experts is to develop control and monitoring regulations and internal control units to improve performance and seek assistance from experts at home and abroad. The Royal Decree also tasks the Supreme Council of Civil Defense at the Ministry of Interior with assessing the management of the authorities' response to the flood events. The Ministerial Committee charged with handling informal settlements, the Decree ordered, is to supervise the work of the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs and Jeddah Municipality in preparing, approving and implementing a new comprehensive land development scheme for east Jeddah. The Decree further ordered that the Cabinet ruling on the demarcation of land belonging to the Ain Aziziyyah Waqf (Endowment) be expedited to prevent encroachments. It also ordered the development of the endowment's revenues, and an independent committee to monitor revenue collection and confirm the termination of the sale of its land. In the Decree, King Abdullah also ordered the formation of a committee from the Ministry of Finance, General Auditing Bureau, Control and Investigation Board and the Governorate of Makkah to identify all companies, institutions, consulting offices and other parties proven guilty of dereliction of duty and malpractice in the past or future to be referred to the Committee referred to in Clause 78 of government tenders and procurements regulations. The Ministry of Interior is requested by the Decree to add crimes of financial and administrative corruption to crimes not included under specified pardon instructions, orders and regulations related to combating corruption. King Abdullah further ordered in Monday's Royal Decree that the Higher Committee formed under order No. 4298/2 dated 01/04/1431H follow up the implementation of the above-mentioned recommendations, complete the necessary, manage latest developments, and propose what it deems necessary for public interest.
