Report: Pinoys, foreigners affected by Jeddah floods to be compensated

Filipinos who suffered losses in the flash floods that hit Jeddah in Saudi Arabia last Jan. 26 have been assured of compensation. Jeddah Governor Prince Mishaal bin Majed ordered appraisal teams to evaluate the losses suffered by foreign residents, according to a report on news site Arab News. Prince Mishaal’s order comes on the heels of Makkah Gov. Prince Khaled Al-Faisal’s statement on Wednesday that the government planned to provide compensation to victims of the flood, the Arab News report said. Eight of the 10 people who died in the floods were expatriates. They included two Chadians, a Bangladeshi, a Yemeni, a Turkish, an Egyptian, a Filipino and a Nepali. An earlier Arab News report identified the Filipino who died in the floods as Vineelo Mat, 57, who was electrocuted. Friday's Arab News report also cited reports that 4,553 houses and 4,591 cars were destroyed or damaged in the flood. Also, the government has extended the tenures of the 58 damage assessment teams and permitted families whose homes were damaged to stay in their temporary accommodations for another week. Director general of social affairs for charity societies in Makkah province Abdullah Al-Tawi said Thursday there are 5,731 families in various shelters. He said SR33 million (roughly PhP 382M) is being distributed as emergency aid to the flood victims. “The amount has been deposited in the bank accounts of charity organizations to pay for items such as clothes, furniture, refurnishing of houses and home appliances under the supervision of the Jeddah governorate," he said. Many refugee families expressed fears they would be evicted from their temporary accommodations before repairs on their homes were complete. On Thursday, government inspectors made inspections of at least one flooded compound to assess damages. The compound, located off Palestine Road, was damaged from the failure of the Um Al-Khair check dam a day after the rains that was supposed to protect nearby neighborhoods. Inspectors asked for photocopies of iqamas (work/residency permits), driver’s licenses, vehicle registration papers and several passport-size photos. They also asked for lists of damaged household items and wherever possible, purchase receipts of the items on the list. Inspectors assured compound residents that compensation would be forthcoming though it might take some months. A resident of a compound in Hamra district said an inspector told them compensation would be as much as SR35,000 (roughly PhP 405, 000) for damaged household items and SR25,000 (roughly PhP 289,000) for each damaged vehicle. The city governor’s recent comments might offer some comfort to expatriates that officials are at least recognizing that the flood affected many non-Saudis in a city populated by a large number of legal and illegal foreigners. — LBG, GMA News