When we journalists use the word “transparency”, we mean the right to access information related to matters of public interest and concern. Such information would serve as guidelines for reforms that would benefit the nation as a whole. No official holding a job involving public trust has the right to close his doors to journalists or refuse to speak to them on the telephone. Certainly no one has the right to destroy cameras or threaten journalists for publishing a story. Unfortunately, these kinds of things have happened here in the Kingdom in the past — though from lower-level officials.

No recent event has shown the need for transparency as the tragedy that took place at Intermediate Girls’ School No. 31 in Makkah on Monday. Let us suppose that one day last month, well before the tragedy, a journalist had asked the Presidency of Girls’ Education (PGE) for a list of rented school buildings, the amount of the rents, the names of the buildings’ owners, and the length of the rental contract, there is no doubt whatever of the PGE’s response. It would surely have been, “Who are you to ask these questions? Are you investigating us?”

What harm is there in disclosing such information? Certainly in any Western country, the PGE would be legally obliged to provide the information since the matter is related to public safety. Is there any matter of greater concern to the public anywhere than the education and safety of its children? We in the press earlier tried to get some information from the PGE and we need not mention the reply we received at that time.

If the relevant government department provides the requested information, the press can tell people the truth about what happened and why. It would be the first step in the right direction if the PGE kept its documents in order. If this were the case, the responsible PGE official would know when the rental contract for the building was signed and what conditions, if any, were violated. According to a statement by the president of PGE, the Makkah school building was rented 13 years ago; he later said it had been rented 10 years ago. Why this discrepancy on such a basic matter? A free flow of information would also help the press to prepare an investigative report on other schools in the Kingdom where conditions might also endanger the lives of students and teachers. The press should also raise the question of why the PGE rented a 30-room building in a poor area of Makkah for an annual rent of SR250,000. Such an amount cannot be a normal one for that area and does not seem to be in line with other rents there. The press should check to discover if this is a regular pattern with thousands of buildings rented by the PGE to be used as schools. It would then be clear whether something is or is not wrong with the system.

The press must interview the director general of maintenance at the PGE to find out what safety regulations are implemented at girls’ schools. At this point, we are not interested in what the PGE will do in future. We want to know how many fire extinguishers are in every school and what company, if any, performs regular maintenance on them. And by the way, what is the value of that maintenance contract and was it awarded after public tenders had been submitted? When and how often are fire drills conducted in schools? Are these coordinated with civil defense personnel?

The owner of the school in Makkah has said that he does not remember the conditions in the contract which was signed 10 years ago. We are curious to know if the contract included the construction of emergency exits in the building or the installation of fire alarms.

If all the newspapers in the country take part in asking questions and digging out information related to the tragedy, the government would receive everything it needs to carry out reforms for improving the welfare and prosperity of the country. In order for that to happen, no official should refuse to answer journalists’ questions or break their cameras. We shall never have “the best” as promised by the chief of the PGE unless we know how “the worst” happened at Intermediate Girls’ School No. 31 in Makkah.