Most Saudi ministry officials too busy for the media

Reporters complain that officials in Saudi government ministries do not treat them with dignity and ignore most of the questions they are asked. This apparent ignorance, according to journalists, is intentional or a result of the officials not knowing much about their own ministries.
Ministry officials deny these allegations and say that the volume of work is the reason they are unable to answer all questions.  They also say that it is not essential for a spokesman to know everything that happens in the ministry he speaks for. 
Muhammad Al Ka’bi, of Ash-Sharq paper, said that ministry officials intentionally put reporters in embarrassing situations because of lack of cooperative behavior, or because most of the time they deliver inaccurate reports. 
“Sometimes we find that an official knows almost nothing about his ministry,” he said. “And sometimes we find reporters asking irrelevant questions.”
Iman Al Orayfi of Al-Madinah paper says, “While we expect to get information from ministry spokesmen, they make things difficult for us. Sometimes we have to seek help from other people inside the organization, whose job is not to answer our questions.”  The spokesman for the Ministry of Education has denied these allegations and told Arab News, “We always look to build constructive relationships with media. There is no disregard for reporters on the part of the spokesmen. Many questions need time to be answered properly.”
Commenting on the complaint that some spokesmen are not aware of the many pieces of information they are asked about, the spokesman for the Ministry of Education said that an official is not expected to know everything about his ministry, but he should be aware of the general framework of his organization.
Osama Nugali, spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said that responsibility of a spokesman is not to praise his ministry. He believes that the language used in media needs to be developed and upgraded, and that a spokesman should be aware of all the events that take place in his organization. 
Meanwhile, Abdullah Al Jasir, minister of information, said that his organization will not tolerate any ignorance from ministry officials to the media. He threatened that any organization that does not cooperate with other organizations will face very severe penalties.