A young Saudi man who has been waiting for four years for an official job appointment confirmation to be put into effect, caught in what he describes as a “web of bureaucracy”, has now been turned down for the post. Sharaf Al-Sufyani, 24, from Taif says he was provided with a document from Prince Mit'eb Bin Abdul Aziz, Minister of Municipal and Rural Affairs, ordering Taif Municipality to take him on as an official employee. “I handed in the documents and was told that the appointment order would be put into effect as soon as possible,” Al-Sufyani says. “I then spent four years going from Taif where I live to the mayoralty in Makkah, the higher authority in the issue, trying to get the appointment put into effect as per the order, but each time it was the same. ‘As soon as possible,' the personnel department at the municipality kept saying.” The issue would appear to have now reached an unsatisfactory conclusion. “They told me last week that I had been turned down for the job,” Al-Sufyani says, “because, they say, the minister's order has expired.” Officials at Taif Municipality said that they had received applications for certain posts that were awaiting processing, but that they were not aware of Al-Sufyani's case in particular. They suggested he pay a visit to the municipality.
