Yousuf Al-Muhaimeed
SOME opinion writers say the government works for the overall progress of the society exceeding people’s expectations while there are others who believe that the government has yet to adopt vital decisions to enhance progress and prosperity of people, especially women.
The womenfolk would not be able to have a normal life except after the government takes sovereign decisions to improve their daily life. The most surprising thing is that even after taking those decisions and issuing executive bylaws some agencies still hesitate to implement them.
For example, hotels and furnished apartments have been instructed to provide women with rooms on the basis of their national IDs and should not insist that they should have a male guardian. Women aged below 18 are exempted from the law as they have to be accompanied by an elder family member.
Despite this permission given by authorities many hotels still refuse to give women accommodation. As a result authorities have to issue circulars warning hotels and furnished apartments that they would be punished if they refuse to abide by the directive.
I wonder why some hotels refuse to give accommodation to women and reject their legitimate right approved by the constitution and the international law. Why do they expel women from hotels in a racist and unacceptable manner?
They should know that no religion or system or law rejects women but some people do that influenced by certain customs and traditions. Who are these people who refuse to accommodate single women at hotels and furnished apartments? Do they have any legitimate reason to do that?
We have to check whether owners of these hotels and apartments are conservatives who refuse to give accommodation to single women and ask their employees not to accept them, in violation of state regulations. We should also find out whether these hotels are influenced by outside forces.
The warning given by Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage (SCTH)to the hospitality sector that they should not violate regulations, especially those related to accommodation for women, shows that the law is not implemented properly.
Many hotels deny accommodation not only to Saudi women but also to non-Saudi women and female foreign visitors in defiance of the Kingdom’s regulations. This refusal has complicated the SCTH task and obstructs its efforts to promote domestic tourism.
Now what must be done to force these hospitality institutions to accommodate single women? I believe that it is not enough to issue a circular by the commission to warn hotels and apartments. Rather, affected women should be told to disclose the names of those institutions that refuse them accommodation so that stiff punitive action is taken against them.
