Chairman Muhammad Nur Al-Farsi said the society is forced to hand over all of its income to the national Saudi Pensioners Association in Riyadh. Even funds, collected to pay back the debts, must be remitted to the association.

The MSR was affiliated to the national body in 2006. “For every move we make, we now have to consult with Riyadh first. It is up to them to accept or reject our proposals,” said Al-Farsi.

According to the rules and regulations of the central society in Riyadh, the MSR should remit about 15 percent of its subscription fees to the association. The MSR can utilize the remaining amount. “In reality, the entire sum is collected by our parent organization, leaving our society empty handed,” Al-Farsi said.

The MSR has 4.900 members, divided over three categories, said Al-Farsi. Full-time members pay an annual subscription fee of SR300. Part-time members pay only SR100. Spouses and children of the retirees pay SR20 per year.

The parent body that collects all the entire subscription fees is not even willing to pay electricity and telephone bills of the MSR office in Makkah, said Al-Farsi. “We sent an electricity bill of SR8,000 to Riyadh for settlement, but nothing was done about it so far,” he added.

Al-Farsi is the third chairman of the MSR since its establishment five years ago. He agreed with his predecessor to settle the society’s SR50,000 debt. The MSR organized a function called Loyalty Day to honor some of the retirees. The event raised SR80,000 and some of this was set aside to cover a part of the debt. The remaining amount was to be distributed among the MSR members. “We were strongly reprimanded by our parent organization. They said we should have kept the remainder of the money. Now, according to the Riyadh office, we are indebted to our own society,” he said.

Al-Farsi said the MSR also agreed with a number of philanthropists in Makkah to support it financially. “When Riyadh heard about this, they asked us to send every donated halala to them.”