A few months ago I wrote about a tragic accident involving a schoolboy who was hit by a delivery van on the premises of his elementary school in Riyadh. The accident which resulted in the death of the child occurred when the delivery van carrying food for the school cafeteria drove through the school courtyard where students usually assemble.
Since that time, I have monitored the papers to check whether any response would come from the ministry and whether it would ban delivery trucks from school grounds in order to guarantee that such accidents do not happen in future.
The response came and the ministry issued instructions banning vehicles from entering school premises for any reason. This was good news — but the bizarre part of the response is that the decision made it appear the ban was introduced to protect the school buildings and facilities. There was no mention of protecting the children or ensuring their safety. This is outrageous. Children’s safety is not mentioned. Is the ministry more concerned with its buildings and facilities than with children’s lives?
Another instance of official negligence also involved the death of a company employee. After waiting a long time for the comment, I learned that the company holds the deceased employee 100 percent responsible for the accident that resulted in his death. The company also tried to get the next of kin to sign a document absolving it from any obligations toward the deceased.
Again, this is absolutely outrageous. How dare a company accuse one of its employees of killing himself? Is human life that cheap? Is a paper all the compensation the company gives to the family of a man who spent years serving it?
Neither the death of the schoolboy nor of the company employee changed anything. The reason is that those really responsible for the deaths know very well that no action of any kind will be taken against them.
