IF the Ministry of Labor is unable to dispatch enough inspectors to fully observe the compliance of private businesses with labor regulations, then it seems high time that additional inspectors be hired and put to work. According to the Ministry, 47,349 firms have so far been monitored but the goal is some 270,000, meaning less than 20 per cent of the nation's private firms received visits from the Ministry. Vigilance on the part of the Ministry of Labor is especially important in this area where issues such as pay regulations, health and safety and social services often come into play. The Ministry must be the main overseer as the vast majority of the workers are foreign and have little if any support network to which to turn to resolve labor disputes. The treatment of a country's workers is a measure of its level of sophistication and development as a nation. The rights of workers are undeniable, and the Ministry of Labor exists, for among reasons, to ensure that these rights are provided unhindered while ensuring that workers on the job observe Ministry regulations, as well. In a country as vast and sparsely populated as Saudi Arabia, inspectors are likely to be needed in some pretty far-flung places. In order to make sure that labor regulations are being properly observed around the country, the personnel must be available for inspections. So far, there have been 1,072 cases handled by the inspectors involving 16,429 workers. Given the number of workers in Saudi Arabia, that is not an inordinate amount of infractions. But in the face of some 220,000 firms still to be inspected, the specter of significant violations certainly raises its head. When we think of infrastructure, we usually think of a physical infrastructure. Labor and other laws, however, are part of the legal and social infrastructure and just as important to regulate and maintain as bridges and superhighways. The Ministry Labor should hire more inspectors. __
