Saudi GazettePhysically challenged children perform on stage at the Prince Sultan Rehabilitation Complex. — Courtesy photo Abdullah Al-Moghamis, Director of Prince Sultan Rehabilitation Complex for disabled children in the Eastern Province is advocating an exemption for the charitable organization from paying electrical bills since it is placing a tremendous financial burden on their budget. The Rehabilitation Complex is a non-profit, charitable organization that provides services to some 22,000 physically impaired individuals and 70 percent of the patients are treated free of charge. The association is funded by generous donations from the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, Prince Mohammad bin Fahd Bin Abdul Aziz, Prince Sultan Bin Abdul Aziz, business men, and many members of the society who wish to extend support. In an exclusive interview with Saudi Gazette, Al-Moghamis said, “We are a non-profit organization and our center is a large, state of the art complex, fully equipped with the latest technologies; stretching over an area of 25,000 square meters. You can imagine how much it costs to power air-conditioning for a building of such a vast size. On an average, our electrical bill reaches SR70,000 to SR80,000 per month, but during summer months of July and August when the heat reaches its peak, we pay SR120,000 for electricity expenses.” He added that the complex provides services such as occupational therapy, physical therapy, speech therapy, psychological therapy, and a full-time school that receives over 380 students each day. The organization is facing challenges in keeping up with the financial expenses as SR10 million is spent on staff salaries and SR16 million is needed to keep the center up and running. “In addition to our rehabilitative services, we have our own factory where we manufacture prosthetic limbs and other tools and equipments to aid the physically disabled in moving around and leading normal lives. The factory alone uses up an enormous amount of electricity that puts us under great pressure to foot the electrical bills,” said Al-Moghamis. Al-Moghamis added that the electrical company should play a stronger role in fulfilling its corporate social responsibilities by lifting the electrical fees that they incur each month. “The Electrical Company in the Eastern Province responded to our request by pointing out that the company already charges charitable organizations with special, discounted rates. Although I do not deny lower electrical rates, in my opinion, that is not enough. The company should cover the entire electricity bill in light of the humanitarian services we provide to the community, free of charge,” he said. __
