Some families do not even have the means to buy enough food and clothes, let alone other basic necessities, Arab News learned in a recent visit.

The two villages with a population of 8,000 are overlooking the King Abdullah Economic City, less than 170 km from Jeddah.

Their only hope is that some charity organization will be kind enough to provide them with enough food and other daily needs.

Charity organizations have been accused of ignoring poverty in the rural regions while they are busy helping the poor in cities.

Since the beginning of Ramadan, the two villages received only a small vanload of goods and 600 meal packets donated by people in Jeddah.

Even this small quantity did not benefit the villages’ families because the food was distributed at a location distant from the residential areas. Before the poor families could reach the distribution point, many expatriate workers from the economic city who live in cheap housing in the villages claimed the free meals.

The villagers told Arab News that they were not getting help from the government since the death of Mutlaq Al-Farsy, a community leader who used to visit the local governor’s office and ask officials for help. However, after his death no one visited the office to represent the villagers.

Their demands included a police outpost in the villages because they needed protection from the many laborers from the economic city who also lived there.

They also requested that charity organizations in cities should open branches in the villages to help the widows, orphans and women who act as the primary earners.

No help to educate the children is also available because the local Qu’ran Memorizing Society branch has little resources.

A girl student at the Qur’an school told Arab News she needed a small writing desk. The village health center was scantly furnished and did not have sufficient equipments. Young villagers complained that they could hardly find brides because girls in nearby villages were reluctant to marry anyone in Kliya and Saabar where most houses did not have electricity.