RIYADH, 22 January 2008 — The Council of Ministers yesterday approved the formation of an association for consumer protection. It also set up an authority for railways and licensed the National Water Company.
“The Association for Consumer Protection will take care of the affairs and interests of consumers. It will also protect and defend their rights,” the Cabinet said in a statement carried by the Saudi Press Agency. The association will also take up the issues of consumers at public and private agencies and protect them from all types of trade fraud, imitation products and other deceitful practices and excessive prices.
The formation of the new organization is significant as it comes at a time when prices of most consumer goods in the Kingdom have increased 10 to 50 percent, sending shockwaves among Saudis and expatriates.
According to the Cabinet statement, the new association will also promote consumer awareness on more economical ways of purchasing. The Cabinet meeting was chaired by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah.
Referring to the new Railway Authority, the Cabinet said the Saudi Railway Organization (SRO) would continue to function until the authority’s rules and regulations are ready. “The SRO will also exercise the authority’s powers until its operational powers are transferred to investors,” it added.
The Railway Authority will be an independent body in terms of finance and administration and a royal decree will be issued to appoint its governor. “It will organize railway transport and safety,” the Cabinet said.
The new authority will also issue licenses to railway service providers, monitor unfair competition, investigate railway accidents and losses.
The Cabinet set the authority’s board of directors, which will be chaired by the transport minister with the authority’s governor as deputy chairman. Its members include representatives from the Transport Ministry, Commerce and Industry Ministry and Finance Ministry in addition to three members from the private sector.
The new National Water Company will provide all services related to underground water sector, drinking water distribution sector and collection and treatment of sewage water on a sound commercial basis. “The company will receive all its dues, including charges for its services in the specified time from all subscribers without exception. It will also pay its dues,” the Cabinet statement said.
“All rights and properties of the state in the above sectors will be transferred to the company in phases determined by the minister of water and electricity,” the statement said.
The Cabinet meeting also appointed Dr. Nasser Al-Rasheed, Mohammed Abdul Latif Jameel, Abdullah Bahamdan and Saud Al-Dowaish members of the National Committee to Combat Drugs for three years. It also appointed Abdul Rahman ibn Saad Al-Bawaridi, deputy minister for labor affairs at the Labor Ministry.
