JEDDAH: Shoura member Hanan Al-Ahmadi said that government agencies fear social networking sites more than the Control and Investigation Bureau (CIB).

“We cannot accept that a photo, a tweet, or a video published on social media is more influential than reports of the CIB,” she was quoted as saying by a local newspaper.

She said the Shoura Council receives the annual reports of the supervisory agencies, including the CIB. “The reports contain complaints that government agencies are not cooperating or responding to the supervisory body.”

She lamented the fact that the role of the CIB is limited to monitoring the work of its employees, indicating that this supervisory body does not come into the spotlight until the cases come before the public.

“I wonder about the role of the CIB in preventing the big fiascos and failures of some government sectors which in some cases lead to some major catastrophes,” she said.

She referred in this regard to the fire that broke out at Jazan Central Hospital and the Jeddah floods disaster.

She said that all indicators point to the amplified, but inactive, system of supervision. “Such systems do not amount to our development needs, and have not succeeded in maintaining public funds.”

“We must admit that our supervisory and control system does not pace up with our aspirations, does not meet our needs, and cannot face the current developmental challenges,” she added.