THE new Shoura Council began its first session by discussing the 23 articles of a draft bill governing the duties of housemaids. It spent a lot of time deliberating Article 8, which says the housemaid should not be made to work from 10 in the evening to 5 in the morning.
It also spent a long time discussing Article 5, which stipulates that the housemaid should be put through a probationary period of 90 days, and Article 7, which reads: “The housemaid should not be asked to do any job that was not originally agreed upon in the work contract.” The honorable members of the council discussed at length the affairs of housemaids but made no mention of other household servants who include drivers, baby sitters, cooks and others.
If the council discussed each and every servant’s job, it might take months or years to complete the task. What about workers in private companies and establishments? Do they only concern the labor offices and the Ministry of Labor? Why did the council begin its sessions with this topic? I do not belittle the subject nor do I say it is unimportant. No doubt it is an important issue since we have been recruiting housemaids for 40 years and have only now begun to think of making regulations related to them.
Hectic discussions took place in the council about how long the housemaid should work. Have we no other important issues to discuss save only this? Why do not the honorable members discuss the pesticides that have killed a number of people in Jeddah?
Why do not they discuss our educational system that has produced large numbers of unemployed and unemployable graduates? Why do not they discuss the rights of teachers and schools that have turned into houses and kitchens? Why do not they discuss the situation in hospitals and the housing crisis? Why do not they discuss the problems of farmers since the cultivation of wheat was halted? What about unemployment among women?
We have many important issues to discuss, the least of which is the affairs of housemaids.
Our beloved country, which has no scarcity of problems, expects much of the council members who took an oath before Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah to discuss thoroughly all issues of concern to the nation and its citizens. The honorable members of the council are the cream of our country. They should shoulder their responsibility before Allah. Amid the current global financial crisis, the issue of housemaids should not definitely be among our top priorities.
