Crown Prince Naif Bin Abdul Aziz, Deputy Premier and Minister of Interior, has issued directives to Emirs to meet the needs of citizens, answer their queries and complaints and give convincing justifications for shortcomings in some services. The directives were issued after a number of media outlets published the grievances and complaints of citizens about shortcomings in the performance of government agencies, particularly those involved in public services. The Control and Investigation Board (CIB) had written to the emirs of regions that it was facing difficulties in investigating the facts. As per the Royal Order 7/B/ 6218 dated 27-4-1417H, the Control and Investigation Board, which is responsible for overseeing the business hours in all government agencies, has been authorized to ask the ministries and senior officials to provide it with precise data about the periods they have set for receiving the citizens. Informed sources say that the initial plan was for officials to keep their doors open for the public throughout the week, but their need to follow-up on projects, chair meetings and oversee the flow of work in their administrations and ministries made the legislators reconsider this and restrict the ‘open' days to three days a week. Last month a high level committee was set up to study the King's directive that makes it mandatory for senior officials to receive petitioners and listen to their complaints three times weekly. __
