FOR many years, the Ministry of Labor has been very consistent in the application of its Nitaqat program. Under this program, private companies and establishments are expected to Saudize a certain number of jobs or face the chance of falling in the low-green, yellow or red levels and hence lose access to the ministry's services including foreign recruitment. After all these years, the ministry suddenly discovered that it was not at all possible to nationalize the jobs of cleaners and construction workers. It has, therefore, thankfully pulled these two categories from the list of jobs it wants to Saudize in the Nitaqat program. The ministry needed years to arrive at a conclusion that was known to everybody. I have lived on this earth for more than 60 years and I became aware of things around me more than 50 years ago. I have never, during these years, seen a Saudi cleaner. So, how can the ministry expect that Saudis will accept these jobs? After three economic booms and an affluent life, Saudis consider such jobs to be beneath them and far below their dreams and expectations. How on earth can the ministry think, even for a minute, that Saudis may be cleaners and construction workers? How can it ask for the Saudization of these jobs and punish the companies and establishments that are unable to find Saudis to fill such positions? What an idealistic thinking on behalf of the ministry! As for construction work, it is true that there were Saudis who worked in this field some 50 years ago. The construction industry with its masons, electricians, carpenters, welders and others, has now fallen completely into the hands of expatriates. How can the ministry ever think of Saudizing such jobs? I strongly believe that it must have been completely cut off from reality when it thought of doing this. The ministry was so eager to push its Nitaqat program that it thought it would see Saudis climbing scaffoldings with cement bags on their backs. It erroneously believed that it was possible to see Saudi citizens with carpentry, welding and electrical equipment climbing buildings under construction to perform manual labor. When the ministry woke up from its dream, it decided to exempt these two job categories from the Saudization quota in its Nitaqat program. It has taken this step after national construction companies have incurred immense financial losses. They were also deprived of their right to recruit foreign manpower. In addition to their huge financial losses, the construction companies were also made to cheat. They resorted to using illegal expatriates to honor the contracts they had already signed with building owners. In light of all this, are we not right when we ask the ministry to wake up from its deep slumber?
