RIYADH — The Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture unveiled the draft rules with regard to the incentive rewards for those who support the ministry to uncover violations of the provisions of the Agricultural Law. According to the draft rules, a financial reward not exceeding SR50000 and not less than SR1000 will be offered to the whistleblowers. The violations shall be reported through the channels and platforms approved by the ministry using the form prepared for that purpose. The information, supplied by the whistleblower, would include his name, contact number, ID number, the location and address of the violation, type of the violation, and documents and information supportive to the whistleblowing. Upon receiving the report, the competent departments would examine and verify the accuracy of the data submitted, and confirm that there were no previous whistleblowing of the violation in question, and submit recommendation for rewards for whistleblowers to the Rewards Committee after verifying their eligibility for the reward. The reward will be granted according to the discretionary authority of the ministry, with a condition that the report has led to the detection of any violations of the Agricultural Law and its executive regulations and that the whistleblower is not the first or second degree relative of the inspector responsible for inspection and proving the reported violation, and that the informant is not an accomplice in committing the reported violation. The violation must not have been previously reported. According to the draft rules, a five-member Rewards Committee shall be formed by a decision of the minister, and each one of the members shall have a rank not lower than tenth or its equivalent. The committee shall study the cases nominated for the incentive reward, and the extent of each case's worthiness. While evaluating the merit of the incentive reward, the committee takes into account the seriousness and importance of the violation, the difficulty of discovering the violation, the effort exerted by the whistleblower in discovering the violation, and the amount of the fine for the reported violation. The incentive reward is disbursed from the budget and the ministry must ensure the confidentiality of the reports submitted to it, and not divulge any information related to the identity of the whistleblower. The ministry has the right not to disclose the measures taken regarding the reports and the result reached. It has also the right to take the necessary measures when the submitted report is proven to be incorrect.
