Members of the Shoura Council Monday criticized a Ministry of Social Affairs report, which they said, failed to determine the rate and line of poverty in the country. “The report did not mention the National Strategy to Tackle Poverty that was approved in 2002. It can be construed as if the ministry was avoiding talking about poverty rate in the Kingdom,” said Muhammad Al-Quwaihis. “We demand that the ministry determines poverty line, given the rise in prices by 20 percent last year and the increase in inflation,” Al-Quwaihis added. The Council, he said, had issued a recommendation to build houses for 300,000 poor families, but “not one was built.” He wondered why the ministry of social affairs, or the Ministry of Housing, would not purchase houses for those poor people. Also, the work of charitable societies is unclear: Some of them have financial resources, while others have to seek help from philanthropists, he said. Dr. Khaled Al-Awwad, another Council member, said it was “unfortunate” that the report does not answer questions about the type and quality of services extended to beneficiaries. “There are figures in the report that do not indicate anything significant.” It did not show the difference between the services it [should] introduce and the services that are virtually extended, especially the ones aimed at the disabled, Al-Awwad said. The ministry's “centralized management” is also flawed as it supervises all the programs it introduces. It should only set the guidelines of these programs and leave managing them to its branches, each in harmony with the obtaining circumstances, he added. Dr. Ibrahim Al-Sulaiman said the report shows that the issuance of a national identification card for a special-needs persons with unknown parents takes longer. “And obviously the question is how much longer, a month, a year,” he wondered. Saeed Al-Sheikh said the report showed that the number of beneficiaries from the ministry's services is increasing —more than 63,000 new people were registered as beneficiaries from Social Security in 2009-10 — and yet there are no criteria to evaluate these services. Dr. Hamid Al-Sharari said some rural centers and villages have no charitable societies at all while some of them depend on charitable societies in distant areas which makes it difficult to receive services. He demanded the ministry to open such societies in these villages and centers. Sheikh Azeb Aal Misbel said the ministry said in its report that the cost for accommodating the disabled and elderly have risen to SR50,000 a year per person. “Why would not the ministry approach Chambers of Commerce and Industry and reach an agreement to cover the costs for accommodating the elderly and the disabled and create a program for the elderly,” he asked. The Social Affairs, Family and Youth Committee recommended that the Ministry of Social Affairs be provided with the resources required for its institutional care and social development services to reach areas where thy do not exist. It also called on the ministry to strike agreements with the Saudi Credit and Saving Bank and the Social National Charitable Fund to provide loans for the needy to establish small enterprises. It also called on it to discuss with the Labor Ministry creating jobs at the private sector for the sons of needy families registered in the Social Security. __
