In a recent development, the Ministry of Water flatly denied that the dumping of sewage and waste in the Eastern Province led to the unexplained discovery of tons of dead fish.

I tend to go with and believe what the experts in the field have to say. While the bureaucrats at ministries and other official bodies may be too concerned with public relations and job security, the truth is usually found among men of knowledge. And in the case of the dead fish, while the Ministry of Water denied the source of the problem and attributed the cause of the dead floating fish to the recent offensive on Iraq and pollution discharged from warships, the experts are saying otherwise.

A report in this paper the other day stated that “Dr. Asad Al-Dokair, head of the Chemistry Department at KFUPM, said the dumping of sewage water and waste into the sea had a negative influence on marine life and resources and the recent deaths of tons of fish may be an indication of that. He suggested sterilizing sewage water with chlorine before dumping it into the sea; this would rid the waste of both viruses and bacteria.”

And “Dr. Abdul Aziz Al-Sowailim, Marine Studies and Fish Unit manager at KFUPM, called for triple processing of sewage water designed to reduce organic matter and leave marine life unaffected, and to stop disposing of sewage water and waste into the waters around Tarout Island in the Gulf near Dammam.” With such specifics from the experts in the field, how could one really give any credence to denials not supported by any factual studies?

Denial perhaps that such awful things do not happen here? Denial perhaps that because we as Saudis are somehow “special” and thus immune to such self-induced calamities? And beyond the denial, there is hardly ever a reasonable clarification. No precise explanation to make clear the basis of the denials. No studies, no research, and hardly ever any digestible facts. It has been the nature of these denials that has made a growing number of folk here very uneasy.

The list of denials goes on and on. We are subjected to denials that we have an unemployment problem that could develop into socially threatening proportions, denials that the management of sewage and waste is a primary cause of an increasing array of respiratory or abdominal illnesses, denials that free and effective health care is virtually non-existent to the masses, that the rights of foreign workers are daily being violated by some very unscrupulous employers, that our education curriculum is inadequately geared to meet the challenges of a changing world; denials that women’s rights are not identified or secured, denials that our bloated bureaucracies are neglecting the needs of the public, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera!

Perhaps in the end, in this culture of denial, if faced with an unpleasant situation myself, I will resort to the norm and deny I ever wrote this column.