Members of the Shoura Council sharply criticized the Public Pension Agency (PPA) Sunday for failing to meet its responsibilities towards retirees and ignoring the Council's desicions. Members said the PPA has not provided suitable medical insurance for pensioners and noted that insurance companies avoid covering them due to fears about costs of treating chronic diseases that affect old people. During the discussion of the two annual reports of the PPA for the fiscal years 2005/2006 and 2007/2008, Dr. Talal Bakri, a member of the Shoura Council, said information about some of the authorities' accounts were not disclosed to the Shoura Council. He said the absence of this information makes it difficult for members to monitor and supervise the performance of the state sectors. Dr. Khidhir Al-Qurashi, another member of the Shoura Council, agreed with Dr. Bakri and said four decisions related to regulating the Agency have been issued in four years, but they have not been implemented. “Not giving any attention to these decisions is tantamount to challenging the Shoura Council,” he said. “They are clearly ignoring the recommendations of its members.” Dr. Abdullah Bukhari, fellow Shoura member, also agreed that the “Public Pension Agency has been negligent in caring for retirees and ignoring the Shoura Council's decisions.” One member of the Shoura Council, Dr. Zain Al-Abideen Barri, criticized the PPA investments during the years of the two annual reports and noted that investments reaching SR300 billion had only earned SR16 billion. Dr. Barri also warned that there is a SR14 billion deficit in the retirees' pensions and a 15-percent rise in retirement pensions, which said is insufficient to cover increases in the cost of living in the Kingdom. The Public Pension Agency should sign contracts with health insurance companies and serve retirees through deductions from their pensions, Dr. Khalid Al-Saif, a Shoura member, suggested. Dr. Salim Al-Qahtani drew attention to the existence of a SR5 billion deficit in the PPA's investments. The Shoura member added that the organization had not secured education for the 111,000 children of retirees. Dr. Al-Qahtani also pointed out that only 229 retirees have benefited from a PPA housing program, which led him to question its feasibility and suggest that it be reviewed. In addressing the Public Pension Agency's annual reports, the Administration and Human Resources Committee recommended that they should include its internal and overseas investments and reconsider the conditions to be met in the housing program. The Shoura Council agreed to give the Committee time to respond to its members' observations, which it will do at the next session. The Council also approved reconsidering the organizational state of the Control and Investigation Board and its message and goals, according to Article 80 of the Basic System of Governance, as it is the central government authority to monitor government performance, ensure its safety and quality and increase its number of branches throughout the regions. The Shoura Council also announced its approval of the recommendations of the Housing, Water and Public Services Committee on the annual report of the General Organization for Grain Silos and Flour Mills. It was recommended that the reserve storage of wheat should be increased to a one-year supply so it can meet any emergency requirements. The Shoura Council said, “The recommendations include studying ways to increase the benefit from bran in a way that achieves the state's goal to activate the national plan for making concentrated fodder and making the best use of it.”
