JEDDAH: Irate senior citizens and widows in Haql have called on the Social Affairs Ministry to set up an office in the region because they have for a second week not been able to get their payments.

The beneficiaries have had to deal with the scorching heat because no one has turned up to help them, an online publication reported recently. The publication posted several pictures showing the plight of the citizens.

The publication has over the years reported about the situation of citizens in this region. This is because there is no branch of the ministry in the area. Citizens are forced to queue up in front of the welfare association in Haql, hoping that a social affairs official arrives from Tabuk to assist them.

An official is supposed to visit the region every Thursday to take their documents and return to Tabuk to complete the process. This formality takes several weeks. Several senior citizens and widows cannot travel to Tabuk.

The citizens of Haql are not the only ones suffering. Many in Dhaba face the same problem. They have raised concerns about the lack of services because the government has allocated huge amounts for social welfare.

Several citizens from Haql and Dhaba were quoted as saying that they want Minister of Social Affairs Majed Al-Qassabi to intervene and provide an effective and long-term solution to their plight. They want a social affairs official appointed fulltime in their area or a ministry office opened.

The website, citing an unnamed source, said that the suffering of the beneficiaries would end in the coming two weeks. Haql’s mayor is expected to take up the matter. The source said that the ministry was capable of providing services to beneficiaries anywhere in the country.