Letters — Guest workers

Sabria S. Jawhar in her column (Sept. 13) has raised a very important issue which expatriates in the Kingdom have to face day in and day out.
As far as I know, there are clear guidelines and instructions for all the government hospitals to accept the cases of emergency regardless of the residence status and not giving any consideration to the nationality of the one who is struggling for life.
Very recently, one of my acquaintances, an Indian expatriate, was seriously injured in a road accident and was immediately admitted to the King Fahd Hospital in Alkhobar and is still undergoing treatment there. In fact, as his sponsor had vanished a long time ago, he was not even having a valid residence permit at that time. As Jawhar has stated rightly, there is a royal decree that directs the private hospital to accept patients who are in dire need of treatment if government hospitals do not have beds or facilities.
The crux of the problem lies in handling emergency cases whether caused by traffic accidents, fire incidents or health related cases. As we know in the US, a simple call to 911 gets an immediate aid. Not only their ambulances are well equipped with the first aid instruments and materials, but the staff manning them are well trained and know to which nearest hospital they should take the patient and make all the necessary coordination to save the person. There is a need to develop such an integrated system where the accident victims are transported in quickest time possible to the nearest hospital regardless of the his or her residence status.
(Safi H. Jannaty, Dammam)

Kerala’s Muslim leader
This is in response to your last column “Shihab Thangal: Kerala’s finest Muslim leader.” We thank you very much for your good article about our beloved leader Sayed Mohammed Ali Shihab Thangal. We also thank you for your efforts in bringing to the fore the issues and concerns of Keralites. (Ashraf K.V., Abu Dhabi)

Murray’s glory
Andy Murray’s Grand Slam breakthrough title at the US Open after an enduring and nerve-wracking final match against World No. 2 Novak Djokovic was a real treat to watch for all tennis lovers across the world. As the two new tennis heroes displayed their skills to outclass the other in a match that lasted for over five hours, fans of both these players were as clueless as the players themselves about the outcome of this epic battle.
After the first two sets it emerged that Murray is tantalizingly close to making the history for being the first British tennis player since 1936 to win a Grand Slam but Djokovic was equally determined not to grant the Scot an easy glory as he won the next two sets, thus leaving the fifth set to decide the champion.
After the four sets it was anybody’s match. Anyone who kept the nerves and showed little patience and perseverance would win. This is what happened. Djokovic lost his cool and allowed his temper to rule not his skills which cost him the last Grand Slam of the year. (Muhammad Shaker Hussain, Riyadh)

Undue reward
This is in reference to the article “US Envoy to Libya killed in attack...” The United States provided military and financial assistance to Libya last year during their revolution. They aided in providing a no-fly zone over Libya allowing the rebels to have a fair fight against the ruthless Qaddafi forces which history shows was the turning point in the revolution. This is the thanks the Americans get in return? And you wonder why they aren’t helping out the Syrians. Why should they? (J. Macnab, Riyadh)

Bilingual radio station
As Riyadh is rapidly becoming a true metropolis in terms of heavy traffic especially during peak hours. There are a couple of suggestions that should be taken into account to solve the traffic problem. One, like all the major cities Riyadh should have a bilingual radio station which updates everyone on the road about the traffic jams so that people can take alternate routes to their destinations if they could.
This will not only help the drivers to be a bit stress free during the busy hours of the day but can also improve the quality of driving on the road. As most accidents happen because people are in a rush. Also constant reminders to drive safely and to follow the rules can be aired on the station for the unruly drivers.
Lastly, I think the traffic police vehicles should be patrolling on every exit and on every major road here, as one of the main reasons for traffic jams is due to the long wait for the police to come on an accident site irrespective of the magnitude of the accident. So if there is a heavy presence of traffic police the disputed parties don’t have to wait for long resulting in an easy flow for the traffic. (Durre Fatima, Riyadh)