BURAIDAH, 22 March — Interior Minister Prince Naif stated yesterday that the Kingdom will not differentiate between Saudi and expatriate workers. “We will not accept the pressure on them (expatriates) to work extra hours nor will we accept any hegemony of Saudi sponsors over them,” the prince said.
In an open dialogue with a group of businessmen, intellectuals and academics in the Qassim region on Wednesday night, Prince Naif objected to the use of the word “foreigner” while referring to expatriate workers. “We should not call them foreigners. There are Arabs and Muslims among expatriates. We respect all of them and protect the rights and interests of all,” he said. However, Prince Naif, who is chairman of the Manpower Council, reaffirmed the Kingdom’s Saudization drive to create more jobs for the growing number of Saudi graduates and trainees.
“Saudization is a strategic goal. For that we have opened schools, institutes and universities to prepare our youth to take up various jobs,” he said, while urging the private sector to employ more Saudis.
He pointed out that the Kingdom required more qualified Saudis to take specialist jobs in every field, especially in the health sector — doctors, nurses and pharmacists. In this respect, he stressed the need for opening more medical colleges in the country.
Referring to the Makkah school tragedy, Prince Naif said the press had exaggerated the tragedy, which was triggered by a small fire caused by a schoolgirl.
“The way our newspapers and writers handled the issue was not what we really had expected of them. They exaggerated the matter out of proportions and gave their judgment before ascertaining the facts,” the prince said.
He said that it was wrong to blame the whole department of education for girls for the tragedy.
“It is the right of employees that we tell them ‘thank you’... We should also tell them that ‘you are human beings and you make mistakes.’ It’s our duty to study matters carefully to know the facts,” the prince added.
Last week’s fire that killed 15 schoolgirls and injured 52 others at the Intermediate Girls’ School No. 31 in Makkah was caused by a schoolgirl. “The girl unintentionally lit papers in her classroom, and very soon the fire had spread to the whole classroom,” the interior minister said.
A Royal Decree has been issued to conduct a probe into the incident, Prince Naif said, adding that special panels have been set up in all regions to study the conditions of rented school buildings.
Crown Prince Abdullah, deputy premier and commander of the National Guard, had sent a cable to Prince Sultan, second deputy premier and minister of defense and aviation and chairman of the Higher Ministerial Committee, to take immediate steps to prevent a repeat of such incidents in the future.
Prince Naif condemned the Western media’s smear campaign against the Kingdom. “These campaigns have reached the stage of accusing our religious books and Shariah of encouraging terrorism. Is this ignorance or just pretense of ignorance?” he asked.
Earlier, addressing officials of the General Prosecution and Investigation Office in Buraidah, Prince Naif strongly opposed the use of violence to get confessions from suspects, stressing that such methods do not exist in the Kingdom.
The interior minister warned that officers using inhuman methods on those charged will be punished. “Whoever does such things will not be allowed to get away with it,” he added. “We put more efforts to acquit a person than to incriminate him in order not to accuse an innocent,” the prince added.
