RIYADH, 28 July 2003 — Two weeks after the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs introduced new regulations banning the public collection of money for charitable purposes using donation boxes, including those placed outside mosques, a random visit by Arab News to dozens of shops, supermarkets and drug stores revealed that many are violating the ministry’s directives. The majority of owners told Arab News that they are unaware of the new ministry regulations ordering the removal of the charity boxes.

A bakery store on one of the main roads in Riyadh had a small donation box that belonged to the Saudi society for combating smoking. The box was made of plastic and put near the cashier, where people would see it and drop some money in it. Dozens of one riyal and five riyal notes could be seen in the box.

When Arab News told the cashier that the ministry of labor had issued directives for the removal of such donation boxes, the foreign cashier said: “I have no idea about this. No one has come here to tell me.”

Daifallah Al-Bulawi, general supervisor for charitable organizations in the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, denied that the charity boxes seized by security forces in a raid on terrorist hide-outs last week belonged to local charity organizations supervised by the ministry.

He said charitable organizations that were supervised by the ministry are directly under its control. “They have explicit rules not to use donation boxes for collecting money or coupons in public places. Any organization that is found using these tactics will be punished,” he told Arab News.

The official added that surveillance teams still continued to sweep areas in cities making sure that they have been removed, saying that nothing has been proven that any charity of those supervised by the ministry has been using donation boxes or coupons for collecting cash in public areas.

However, store owners contacted by Arab News said that no one from the ministry had informed them about the new regulations.

Meanwhile, a senior official from the International Islamic Relief Organization (IIRO) said that donation boxes in mosques or in public places were not related in any way to the organization. Speaking to Okaz newspaper, secretary general of IIRO, Adnan Basha, said that people who use religion to carry out their evil acts make donation boxes that are similar to the ones used by approved charities to sway the public opinion that the money is going to provide shelter for the homeless, help young men get married or assist orphans were beneath contempt.

When the reporter from the paper approached the man to ask him about the charitable society and its role, the man ran away, leaving behind the donation box.

Saudis who spoke to Arab News yesterday welcomed the Ministry of Labor’s decision to remove the donation boxes.

Abdullah, a government employee, said that people could be easily fooled by stickers of a homeless person or a refugee put on the box with words like “help the orphans” or “save the homeless”. He said people should go direct to well-known organizations that have offices in all major cities for donations.

Another Saudi, who wanted to be known only by his last name Al-Ghamdi, said that the ministry’s decision was a bold one. He said that there has not been a specific government body in the past responsible for supervising charity organizations and the donations collected from such boxes. He agreed that the Saudi community was generous but no one ever looked into whether money donated in such a way actually gets to the people who deserve it.