“It is the largest morgue ever built in the Middle East,” read the headline in a newspaper, which recently published a feature on the appalling conditions of the Kingdom’s morgues. I can imagine the dead publishing a full-page advertisement thanking the Ministry of Health and, in particular, the Riyadh Department of Health Affairs for such marvelous achievement.
Building the largest morgue in the region requires the creation of a special department to run morgues in the country. This department should also be the largest of its kind in the region to qualify as a landmark and model for others to copy. I can also imagine the dead appreciating the work done by this paper, especially the reporter who presented to the public the miserable conditions of morgues in our capital city. That article, however, contained some pictures that I don’t think any of us would like to see.
Until the ministry builds its huge morgue, the public must show some patience and hope the ministry will build the largest hospital in the region that can provide decent and affordable medical care to those who have not yet died. The public should not be in a rush since the entire ministry staff will be busy working on the morgue project. In the end it is going to add to the number of great and magnificent great edifices in our beloved country.
People learned of plans to build the giant morgue only after the publication of the newspaper article. The news must have landed like a grenade on the desks of ministry officials. Now that this bold step has been taken, I suggest to those officials who continue to bury piles of important papers and files in their office drawers to open their doors to the press and allow it to do its job.
They could simply do this by absenting themselves from town on some official mission and ask reporters to come and open the files and make photocopies. This method would benefit every one, especially the officials who would be spared any embarrassment. The blame for allowing journalists to sneak into the offices can then be put on their assistants, most of whom are anxiously waiting to replace their superiors. It would then be easy to get rid of the assistants and have things progress as required.
