A number of print and electronic newspapers recently published a report about the honoring of street cleaner Muhammad Multazim, a Bangladeshi national, by the Mayor of the Eastern Province Fahd Bin Mohammed Al-Jubeir. The cleaning worker was honored for his noble act of raising the Kingdom’s flag when it fell down during the strong winds accompanied by heavy rain that hit Dammam. The Bangladeshi worker saw the flag touch the ground while he was engaged in carrying out cleaning work on a street in the city. He immediately rushed to raise the flag and put it on his shoulder to show his love for the Kingdom as well as his awe and respect for the flag, which carries the lofty words denoting the Oneness of God: “There is no God but Allah and Muhammad is His Messenger.”

When the mayor saw the picture of the worker published by some websites, raising the flag from the ground and placing it over his shoulder in a gesture of love and appreciation of the flag, he decided to honor this worker in recognition of his respect for the flag and appreciation for the country in which he resides. The mayor said that this honoring is the least that can be offered to this faithful worker who not only performed his work honestly and sincerely even in difficult circumstances, but at the same time performed a noble act by lifting the flag from the ground. The honoring ceremony was also attended by Saleh Al-Mulhim, deputy mayor for services, Muhammad Al-Sufyan, the mayor’s advisor for media affairs, Dr. Hamad Al-Madeeni, director of the hygiene department, and Abdullah Al-Shammari, head of the branch municipality in central Dammam.

There is no doubt that this honor by the mayor and other officials is a gesture that is worthy of appreciation. I do not know whether the honor included an amount of cash or if it was merely confined to the presentation of a shield of honor as appeared in the picture. I think that the worker would welcome an amount of money no matter how small, especially in the light of the meager salaries received by these workers.

I do not know how mayoralties and municipalities can accept the paying of such a paltry amount to cleaning workers who are under their jurisdiction, after awarding contracts worth hundreds of millions of riyals to cleaning companies and establishments. These firms give the workers, who are the most important component of the cleaning process, salaries that are insufficient to meet their expenses. A street cleaner’s monthly salary is equivalent to the price of a dinner for a man and his wife in a respectable quality restaurant in Riyadh or Jeddah.

How can we ask those workers who receive such a trivial amount of salary to do their job in the best way? As a result, these workers resort to a search for other sources of income so that they can earn more money to meet their daily expenses, as well as to be able to send money home to their families.

The authorities who set the specifications and criteria for contracts for cleaning projects must stipulate the number of workers who are required to do the designated work and the salaries that should be given to them. However, this matter is left to companies, establishments and contractors to decide and they allot only a small portion of money to the workers.

These firms are eager to hire cheap labor and give cleaning workers paltry amounts while they make use of the millions of riyals awarded in the cleaning contract. They often forget the fact that these workers are also human beings and if they feel that they are victims of injustice, they will not be sincere in doing their work. Consequently, they will look for other sources of income to offset the insufficient salary they receive from their cleaning job. Some of these workers resort to begging while others engage in car washing and assist shoppers in taking their items from supermarkets to their cars.

There are those who criticize street cleaners and accuse them of negligence and of abandoning their work to do some jobs not related to cleaning. Such people do not realize that these workers have become victims of exploitation and injustice at the hands of those who hired them. In fact, this exploitation began in their own country at the hands of representatives of recruitment companies who go to the countries of these workers, where they are received by local brokers who in turn get money for each worker who is hired. All of this is done at the expense of the poor workers who may have sold their property and other belongings as well as the jewelry of their spouses in order to get an opportunity to work in the Kingdom. These workers received false promises of a good salary, spacious housing, and a comfortable working environment.

Perhaps, the mayor of the Eastern Province and his counterparts in other regions as well as the heads of municipalities should make an effort to treat these workers fairly and strive to halt the injustice being meted out to them by contracting firms which give them very small salaries and provide them with overcrowded housing and a poor working environment. Offering them fair treatment is the best way to honor them. All street cleaners without any exception will do what Multazim had done in honoring the Kingdom’s national flag, especially when considering that it carries the words of Tawhid (the Oneness of God) which means a lot to them.

Dr. Ali Al-Ghamdi is a former Saudi diplomat who specializes in Southeast Asian affairs. He can be reached at algham@hotmail.com