JEDDAH, 28 April 2006 — Sometimes it pays to be a whistleblower, especially if doing so attracts the attention of higher authorities.
Health Minister Dr. Hamad Al-Manie presented a cash award ordered by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah to a woman dietitian who blew the whistle on her employer, a catering contractor for state hospitals, Al-Eqtisadiah reported yesterday.
The reward, which also includes a new job for the honest worker, was presented at the minister’s Riyadh office on Wednesday.
Abeer Ghazi Al-Masoodi was working as a dietitian for a company that had food-catering contracts with hospitals in the Makkah region.
She noticed that her employer was preparing false records exaggerating the number of meals delivered to area hospitals. The embezzlement of public funds amounted to millions of riyals, according to Al-Manie.
“I worked hard for the company for over three years and was surprised by the stark disparity between the amount claimed by the company from the hospital and the cost of the actual number of meals supplied by us,” said Abeer.
“Then I began to make daily observation of the lists of the meals supplied to the hospital and the number of meals claimed in the bills prepared for payment. I was eventually convinced that fraud was taking place. I informed the company’s regional supervisors, but they ignored me. So I sent a complaint to the Health Ministry and quit my job because I felt it was wrong to work in a company that had no scruples about cheating.”
Unlike the company’s regional supervisors, the Health Ministry swung into action, confirming the dietitian’s charges. Ministry officials claim that this is part of a broader effort to crack down on bribery and embezzlement. Earlier, the ministry had discovered some pharmaceutical companies bribing officials and on another occasion some workers were found to be stealing office equipment from the ministry’s offices.
Al-Masoodi, a graduate in dietary science, said she plans to complete a master’s degree in the same field.
Al-Manie said King Abdullah also ordered the ministry to employ Abeer on a monthly salary of SR5,000.
