Saleh Al-Turigee Okaz newspaper The Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice (Haia) revealed that it would earmark SR230 million out of its annual budget to implement new projects, including the construction of 40 new offices and centers at a cost of SR170 million in addition to a number of facilities for training purposes and educational programs. The Haia also said it would set aside SR15 million for the development of its computer system. This year, the Haia was given a budget of SR1.46 billion, which marked an increase of SR131 million over last year's budget. This is a good thing because security is the fourth block that complements the three others — food, health and education — all of which are essential for the stability of any society. What I did not understand in the budget of the Haia is why the commission, which is a security organ helping in the stability of society, would allocate millions of riyals in its budget to "intellectual security". The talk about intellect and thought should bring to mind other concerned parties, namely the ministries of education and higher education. The former is concerned with building the minds while the latter is concerned with protecting these minds from deception and deviation. If there is a shortcoming in their performance, we should fix it instead of mixing the papers so that we will not know who is responsible for the mind and who is responsible for security. I truly wish that the millions of riyals the Haia spends on “intellectual security” is used in employing night patrols who will protect our cars and homes against theft as crime is also an anti-Islam phenomenon that the Haia should endeavor to prevent. I hope that the Haia will not say there is a special government body responsible for protecting our personal property. Theft has become a phenomenon in our society and as long as the Haia is an authority that chases criminals, it will be asked why it is not protecting the people. There are two ministries and a number of institutions for intellectual protection. If they fail to do their job properly, we should correct them as we spend billions of riyals on them. We should not confuse responsibilities for it would be sad if we end up not knowing who is responsible for thought and who is responsible for security. The theft of cars and houses is also a vice that the Haia should fight.
