According to a report on the Pravda website, the country spends more on its armed forces than any other in the Middle East. More specifically $40.5 billion in 2009, which equates to 10% of the nation’s GDP. Israel, the region’s second largest arms buyer, spends a mere third as much – around $13 billion. To put Saudi Arabia’s $40.5 billion into perspective, Russia spends nearly $60 billion per annum on its military, the United Kingdom and France about $65 billion a piece, China $85 billion, and the USA over $600 billion – that alone is circa 40% of global defence spending. Those top five purchasers are, coincidentally, also amongst the leading arms exporters.
Back to Saudi Arabia, though. Its arms budget has, as with neighbouring countries, continued to rise despite the worldwide economic crisis. So why didn’t they spend some of that money on sewers instead? Over 500 people died in Jeddah last week, owing to flash floods brought on by heavy rain. The death toll – around 100 if Saudi officialdom is to be believed, which it’s not (find out why, here) – will probably run into the thousands, as many people were swept out to sea in the deluge. It all could have been avoided, if, that is, four out of the five million inhabitants in the city were served by adequate sewage and treatment facilities, the lack of which led to the flooding. What serves those people instead is a corrupt and in-denial government, who’d rather lay down the law instead of drainage pipes, and buy machine guns in preference to manholes.
I’ll finish by quoting Reem Asaad (the lady who’s leading the revolution against Saudi Arabia’s underwear business) “Aside from the relief work, people are angry and furious with the municipal mismanagement that contributed to this disaster. Many are calling for public questioning and penalty of those directly involved, mainly government officers and subcontractors.”
[...] Robert Bonnett writes on Saudi Arabia here. [...]