MAKKAH, 18 July 2006 — Saudi citizens have accused local recruitment offices of jeopardizing the safety of their families by hiring untrained foreign drivers to come and work for them in the Kingdom.
According to the Makkah-based Al-Nadwah newspaper, many Saudis say the foreigners that come from abroad are classified by recruitment agencies as trained drivers but when placed behind the wheel end up not knowing how to drive.
Hamid Al-Harbi expressed his disgust at local recruitment agencies that “operate cheap scams to make profit by bringing untrained chauffeurs into the Kingdom.”
Al-Harbi said he recently recruited a driver from abroad via a local recruitment office. According to Al-Harbi, the man did not even know how to start a car.
“I desperately needed a driver to chauffeur my wife and kids to work and school. I issued a visa for the driver and went to a recruitment office. After signing all relevant papers and paying necessary fees, all that I had to do was wait. After seven months I received a telephone call from the recruitment office telling me that my driver had now arrived,” he said.
Al-Harbi went to the airport to pick the driver up and while driving him home asked him whether he knew how to drive. In reply the man boasted that he knew how to drive different types of vehicles.
The next day Al-Harbi put his new driver to the test and gave him keys to his car. “He was shaking behind the wheel and didn’t even know how to start the engine. As we started to move he bumped into sidewalks and nearly collided with several vehicles. It was then that the guy confessed that he had never driven in his life,” said Al-Harbi.
Al-Harbi could not believe his ears and feels betrayed by the recruitment office. “Does the recruitment office even care about the safety of my wife and children?”
It was then that he returned to the recruitment office together with the driver. “At first the office denied knowing that the driver did not know how to drive. Then they offered to send him for a driving test saying that if he failed the test then the office would give me a refund,” said Al-Harbi.
After arriving at the driving test center, Al-Harbi was left horrified because the required test was extremely simple.
“All that the driver had to do was drive a few meters. He wasn’t asked to reverse park and make turns nor was he asked about his knowledge of road signs,” he said.
In a very similar situation, Muhammad Islami said that he recruited an Indonesian chauffeur and was shocked when he came to learn that the driver had collided more than once on his first day of driving Islami’s children to school.
“He admitted later that he didn’t know how to drive properly and now I drive him to the driving school after paying for his driving lessons. I’ll end up losing a lot of money if I decide to send him back,” said Islami.
Another unhappy customer is Abdullah Al-Ghamdi, who says he suffered similar problems and ended up arguing with his local recruitment agency.
He said, “Are we supposed to spend our time and money teaching drivers how to drive or are we supposed to take benefit from their services? When I asked the recruitment office to return the driver and replace him with another one they refused.”
Abdullah Haytham, the spokesman for a local recruitment agency, blamed foreign recruitment agencies for the mishaps that occur and said that Saudi agencies specifically ask for well-trained drivers.
“Some offices abroad bring ordinary people from villages that have little idea about driving in city traffic. These agencies provide the workers with fake licenses and concern themselves only with making money,” said Haytham. He believes that the best solution to the problem is for Saudi embassies abroad to take the responsibility of making sure the recruits know their job.
