The serene morning skyline of Jeddah was marred by tragedy on May 30, 2024, when a residential building in the Al-Faisaliyah neighborhood crumbled, resulting in the deaths of seven individuals and injuries to eight others. This calamity, now under intense scrutiny, has revealed a web of corruption and negligence.
Saudi Arabia’s Oversight and Anti-Corruption Authority, Nazaha, has arrested multiple individuals, including prominent figures, in connection with the disaster. The probe into the building’s collapse uncovered corrupt practices in the issuance of building permits, highlighting a grave lapse in regulatory compliance.
Technical defects in the structure were identified as the primary cause of the collapse. Despite explicit instructions from the municipality to cease construction, the building owner, Firas Hani Al Turki, who also serves as the Deputy Minister for Shared Services at the Ministry of Culture, proceeded with unauthorized expansions. His legal representative, Fahad Hussein Ali Sanba, also from the Ministry, enlisted the services of an engineering consultancy run by Majed Mohammed Jameel Bushnaq, facilitated by a Yemeni intermediary contractor, Mohammed Salim Ahmed Al Hussaissi.
The chain of corruption began when an employee of the engineering office requested a demolition permit, followed by a falsified building permit that included doctored photographs showing the building had been demolished. This deceit was conducted in exchange for a bribe of SR50,000. The building owner transferred the money to his legal representative, who then delivered it in cash to an office employee. This led to unauthorized construction that ultimately caused the structure to collapse under increased loads.
The building owner confessed to the bribery, and all parties involved have been detained. Legal proceedings are in motion as Nazaha reaffirms its commitment to upholding the law with a zero-tolerance stance on corruption. This incident serves as a grim reminder of the fatal consequences that corruption and neglect can have on public safety
