JEDDAH, 21 July 2006 — An ongoing dispute between medical interns of King Abdul Aziz University (KAAU) and the administration will reach its first anniversary after a judge once again delayed a final decision until Sept. 11.
A group of about 400 interns claim that a 44 percent reduction in salary of all medical interns at state institutions was applied to them months before it was supposed to go into effect. They began the process of demanding their money in September last year, and the case has been postponed or delayed on numerous occasions since.
The latest postponement stems from the defendant, KAAU, not providing documentation related to the salary cut, as requested by the judge. The judge gave the interns the choice of delaying the case until September or to receive the final judgment without the requested documentation. The interns chose to wait, as advised by their lawyer. Medical interns had their salaries reduced last year to SR6,000 a month, down from SR10,700. The Shoura Council backed the interns’ demands, but cannot order KAAU to do so without permission from the Council of Ministers, the king’s Cabinet.
