If what one university professor said about poverty in this country is true, it is truly shocking news. According to him, a recent study has shown that 60 percent of Saudis live below the poverty line. Translated into figures, this means 13 million citizens are unable to meet their basic needs although they live in a rich country.
To tell the truth, I was appalled by the revelation and hoped the figures were not true. Listening to the man as he spoke, I recalled the story of a father from Jizan in the Kingdom’s south who almost killed his son for refusing to help him pay his electricity bills. The son argued that his low income simply would not allow him to spare even a few riyals for his father.
It is shameful that for so long we refused to talk about the problem, claiming there was no poverty until the day when we woke up to a grim reality. That grim reality followed the landmark visit by Crown Prince Abdullah, deputy premier and commander of the National Guard, to a poor neighborhood of Riyadh nearly a year ago.
With the first anniversary of the historic visit approaching, the problem of poverty seems to have been compounded. We have yet to learn the findings of the task force set up after the visit; it was asked to draw up a national strategy for combating poverty. Nor do we know what steps, if any, have been taken to cope with the expected increase in the country’s population and the corresponding increase in how many actually live below the poverty line.
What we do know, however, is that a very large sum of money was allocated to the task force and that it was given two years to finish its job. Reducing the amount and shortening the time would no doubt have saved a great deal of time and effort since the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs already knows too much about poverty.
The head of the committee assigned to develop a strategy for fighting poverty was quoted as saying that 30 years would be needed to overcome the problem. If that is so, we are facing a real crisis, since poverty is known to have many serious effects on social life. This is a matter that requires collective and serious effort from every one. We don’t want to see the day when Saudis are forced to seek work in neighboring, or even distant, countries.
— Arab News Local Press 15 October 2003
