JEDDAH, 15 April 2005 — An 11-member Saudi family in the industrial city of Jubail is living in pathetic condition inside an old car after they were driven out from their flat for failing to pay the rent, Al-Riyadh Arabic daily reported yesterday.
The 60-year-old head of the family retired from an industrial firm four years ago and is suffering from chronic diseases, the paper said, adding that he was receiving treatment from King Faisal Specialist Hospital in Riyadh.
The family struggles to make ends meet on the monthly pension of their father, estimated at SR2,651, the paper pointed out. To make matters worse, the mother and the eldest daughter suffer from kidney problems.
“The owner of the building drove us out when my husband failed to pay the rent of SR7,000 for six months. He agreed to waive the amount if we left the flat,” the mother said. “Now we don’t have any place to live and we are staying inside this car,” she said pointing at their old station wagon. “We are now suffering from poverty, hunger and fear. My two-year-old baby girl cries day in and day out because of our terrible living condition,” she added.
