JEDDAH, 2 May 2004 — If you want a good drama, all you have to do is visit the social insurance office in Jeddah and hear the sad tales, according to Al-Madinah newspaper. In the office elderly people and the handicapped are seeking money to make themselves secure. One old woman in the office could not believe that she would finally receive a small monthly sum after five years of bureaucratic run-around.
Muhammad Al-Juhani, an old man, told his story: “I came to the office eight months ago and since then, the employees have never given me a straight answer. Every time they give me a different excuse. They tell me that they have sent the paperwork to Riyadh and have not received anything back or that they are still considering my case and have not yet made a decision.
“I come here at 7 in the morning to get social insurance money. I am old and sick. I cannot support myself any longer. My young children are in school. My oldest son is unemployed. These government employees asked me for all kinds of paperwork and other documents. I also had to prove that my three daughters are all divorced because I am supporting them too.”
Hindi Al-Harthi said, “I only applied because I cannot support myself any longer. I suffer from back pain and I cannot walk for long. The first check I got was for SR9,000. After many years, I received SR500. Years later, I received another check for SR6,000. I have been waiting for eight years now. I have four daughters who are divorced and I have to support them. We live below the poverty line and I am in need of immediate financial support.”
Al-Madinah met an old woman who had just received SR5,400. She was very happy that she had got the money after waiting many years. She wondered if it was a one-time payment or if it would continue.
Muhammad Al-Ghadi said, “Procedures at the office are long and boring. They are very difficult for old people like me to follow. When we look at the money we get at the end, we think that it is not worth the trouble because it is so little. Sometimes it costs SR200 a month for transportation to come here and in the end, we don’t get much more than that.”
