DAMMAM, 3 June 2004 — Theirs was an easy job. An eight-hour shift which was spent mostly sitting quietly in a compound, getting friendly greetings from the compound’s residents and their guests. Some even slept on the job with no adverse consequences.

Recent attacks on compounds, however, have changed all that. Being a security guard has suddenly become a very hazardous job. As events have shown, security guards are the first targets in terrorist attacks. In Riyadh and Alkhobar, many have lost their lives in the line of duty.

Arab News talked to security guards in some compounds and made some startling discoveries. For one, none of the guards this reporter spoke to had received any training. They were simply given a uniform and a short baton and told to show up for duty. None of them had any insurance to compensate their families in the event of death or disability.

“I receive a salary of SR1,400 per month. Seventy-five riyals are deducted from it. That will be paid back to me in the event I quit or something happens to me,” said one Saudi security guard. “If I am hurt or injured in the line of duty, I can receive free treatment at government hospitals. If I should die, I hope that the government will compensate my family.”

Some security guards are paid more than SR1,400 but rarely more than SR1,800 per month.

What about their morale? “Most of us are not afraid because we know that life and death are predestined. I hope that the terrorists target no one but if they target my compound, I will try to stop them and do my job,” said another security guard.

The manager of one compound said the turnover in security business had become very high in the past year. “I have not seen any guard work here for more than six months. It is not a very lucrative job and now it has become very dangerous. Most security guards are looking for a different job and as soon as they find something, they quit.”

However, Muhammad Othman Al-Ghamdi, the owner and managing director of one of the oldest security companies in the Eastern Province, disagreed. “I have about 1,000 employees who are all Saudis and more are coming in to be recruited. Nobody is scared or leaving. In the past few days alone, I have hired 70 new guards.”

“I had three guards at the Petroleum Center in Alkhobar when it was attacked by terrorists on May 29. Luckily the guards were not harmed and I told them to take the rest of the day off, but all three of them returned to work. That should tell you about how high their morale is.”

Al-Ghamdi agreed that things had changed drastically in the security business in the last two years but he refused to divulge what his guards were instructed to do in the event of a terrorist attack. “Our guards work with the local police who provide training for them. But not all guards are currently trained because the police training centers are working beyond capacity.”

Only some guards, according to Al-Ghamdi, are licensed to carry firearms. “The guards working in Saudi Aramco have permission and they have guns. The rest are unarmed.”

About insurance, Ghamdi said: “Our security guards have social insurance which provides them with medical coverage, but life insurance is not very popular in the Kingdom.”