There exist major ethical challenges in the public administration of Saudi Arabia. The mentioned ethical challenges are diverse and most importantly include areas such as the construction industry, the government procurement, and the general matters of public administration. Significantly, it would be essential to extrapolate on each of the cited ethical challenges.The construction industry
Saudi Arabia is largest known oil exporter in the world and therefore, enjoys a massive influx of economic income. The mentioned income has necessitated an engagement in a number of the construction projects. However, a study conducted by the International Federation of Consulting Engineers (FIDIC) explicitly revealed that Saudi Arabia was extremely corrupts in the construction industry. Illustratively, the cited corrupt accusations are related to favoritism in the award of the public tenders, unlawful sub contraction of projects, and the procurement of substandard construction materials just to mention but a few. Unfortunately, due to the alarming corrupt practices involving government officials, Saudi Arabia apparently loses an estimate of approximately 27 billion dollars per year. One of the detrimental effects of the poor construction as a result of corruption was vivid in the Jeddah flood of 2009. The cited flood led to the collection of water that swept a huge populace leading to a massive loss of lives (Al-Ahmed, 2009).Government procurement
Government procurement refers to the process by which the government entities purchase land, goods together with services from the private sectors. However, the process of selecting private companies to work with is often overwhelmed with corruption. The government officials are often involved in illegal backdoor transactions and taking of bribes in order to award the tenders. Illustratively, BAE, a British defense company got accused by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) of Saudi Arabia in the year 2009. Most importantly, SFO publicly declared its intention of prosecuting the billion-dollar company based on charges of corruption.General matters of public administration
The aforementioned refers to the access the basic government services and amenities by the public. The mentioned amenities and services include providing access to health care, provision of land, and driving related documents and privileges. Public hospitals in Saudi Arabia have the greatest doctors however; appointments often get issued with regards to connections. For example, individuals with the mentioned connections often get their appointments secured within a week. Conversely, patients without the suggested connections often wait much longer, at time even for an entire month before getting an appointment. The mentioned act is significantly unethical. The cited disparity is, unwarranted, and the system should, therefore, get reexamined and appropriate remedies put in place.Solutions to curtail corruption in Saudi Arabia
In order to improve Saudi Arabia for the better, several adjustments need to take place. The remedies would include widespread implementation of e- government initiatives that is currently in place. However the mentioned e-government initiatives should be used more often. The e-government would help in delivering the essential government information to the citizen through the internet or the world web. Also, the second initiative would involve improving supervision practices coupled with related metrics within the specific public administration system. Strictly placed supervisory practices such as screening would significantly help in prohibiting corruption.
Similarly, the government should provide effectively tailored schemes of incentives to employees. Illustratively, by increasing the pay rate and providing more prestigious financial offerings to government employees, they would not engage in the malice of bribery. Finally, the return to the implementation of Islamic principle would help a great deal. Typically, the guiding Islamic principles often outline a moral and efficient, ethical code. Consequently, through instilling of the cited codes and values within the structures of leadership, Saudi Arabia could explicitly eradicate several of the ill practices that are currently present.
Reference
Al-Ahmed, A. (2009). Jeddah Flood Deaths Shame Saudi Royals. Retrieved December8, 2014, from
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2009/dec/03/jeddah-floods-sewage-al-saud
