Saudi Aramco is being sued for one million riyals. Not over their long time use of natural resources in the EP without considering the environmental consequences, and not over being a country within a country where the rules that govern the rest of Saudi Arabia do not necessarily apply, but over a dead animal. According to Saudi Gazette, Abdullah Al-Saiari is suing the giant oil company for causing the death of an alleged beauty contest female camel which died when she tripped into a big hole that Aramco had dug and filled it up with crude oil in a desert pasture land, 250 km west of Ahsa. 1m SR is probably nothing for a multi billion-dollars company like Aramco, but can a camel breeder win a case against the oil giant? The news item says the General Court in Khobar is looking into the case, but since Aramco is owned by the government, shouldn’t this case be brought into the Court of Grievances? Hmmm…
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Silly rabbit
Don’t you know that a camel is worth 10 men in Saudi
My understanding that these beauty contestants should be spoiled and royally treated; so what was she doing roaming around in the desert? (I know how stupid that sound!!) …
Anyway, I will add no more; good luck with that!!
We should not look into the environmental liability of Aramco in intentionally spilling crude oil, Ahmed.
Far more important things are at stake here, we have a dead Mizayeen camel. A camel that is worth SR1 million while the Diyah for human manslaughter is only SR120,000 !
Bad Aramco, very bad.
Weird…
Important things first: Fabulous photo!
Extremely important things last: You all seem to fail to realize that this was not just a beauty queen camel, nor one specially bred to that purpose, but according to the Saudi Gazette a “well-bred” camel, implying well-educated, well-cultured, well-mannered–a finishing school graduate. Nay SR1 million is a modest sum in this instance!
This is a case between the camel owner and ARANCO. What does it have anything to do with a commom man? This blog is discussing irrevelant issues.
The camel herding business is such a smug competition that you can find a lot of compulsive liars claiming their camels are well-bred.
The guy might be able to get one million from the Oil company ..but will we be able to restore our environment ,in land and in seas..That one is not so easy .Our environment in the gulf is hit so severely.
I read it fell into an open pit for crude oil collection. Talk about the environment!
I agree with saad al dosari: If the camel was so precious then why isn’t it locked up and pampered? That beauty contest is close at hand. Shouldn’t she be prepared for her task? I wonder how ”precious” this camel really was….
And one beauty contestant camel is worth more as 50 young girls being sold off as childbrides…
When I worked in Oman there were always issues with drivers hitting camels. The rule went something like this – In the daytime the driver of the vehicle was responsible if the camel was struck; at night the camel owner was responsible for any damages. It was always interesting to note how the prize racing camel turned in a “wandering wild camel” when the sun went down.
Maybe Aramco should be responsible for pits it digs in land that is open to the public. A fence isn’t a bad idea. I don’t have any idea what the pinup camel was worth but the companies need to be responsible for safety.
Jerry, the irony, if Aramco puts a fence.. a camel herder would steal it. I am not lying here.. Aramco suffers even people stealing light cells that power their diagnostic/control modules in the desert.
@DW
I didn’t know that
If a camel is worth 10 men in Saudi…how much value a woman…. hmmmm!
10 Women as well
In accidental death, the fine is equal for a man or woman
What if ARAMCO sued your man for his camel poluting its oil collection point? In the national interest of course!
Regarding the stealing of company property reminds me that when the British RAF operated out of Benghazi, Libya, the locals “liberated” the RHAG (a nylon cord used to slow landing fighter jet aircraft, now used on aircraft carriers). Imagine the pilot’s irritation – that’s a very long runway on which to walk back to base!
We know what the general result of any legal suit by an individual against a large, wealthy corporation is in our country, without knowing the specifics of his case.
Yet, is this not ironic?
In a nation that assertedly is solely based on the teachings of our religion, is it not noteworthy that in situations such as this, it is generally the weak and powerless that lose?
The clerics who have so very much to say about whether a woman can wear a particular textile are generally completely silent and indeed supportive of a system in which the poor often lose to the rich.
The term hypocrisy comes to my mind.
Am I the only one finding it odd that there is a beauty contest for camels?
Nzingha–no! LOL :)
Loool I just realised that everyone, me included, have taken the camel beauty pageants as a normal past-time activity in Saudi. :D
thts good to ARAMCO, they shld pay mre, they wasted beauty…..
in other news .. saudi PETA is furious :D
will we be able to restore our environment ,in land and in seas.
The automobile is the greatest anti-pollution device in history! Can you imagine all our cities with horses and camels instead, one animal for every four people, and twenty pounds of solid waste daily per animal?
… That’s what bicycles are for. You can even hook up three wheeled models that can carry more people in a cart configuration.
Though all that manure collected quickly and taken to a methane processing facility can probably power a lot of homes from the electricity obtained from the natural decomposition. And you’d get great fertilizer for export for agricultural purposes.
Aramco may be government owned but that does not mean it can reign freely. There are about a hundred cases being brought against Aramco on a weekly basis. The claimants range from your average citizen, like the Camel owner in your piece, to the Ministry of Health.
first of all i would like to offer my heart felt condolences to the camel’s family for the tragic loss of their beautiful sister daughter aunt grandchild and perhaps mother.. who knows.. alla yirhama.. secondly i am wondering – does the sign depict a black camel because of what happened to the deceased?
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[...] Remember the guys who was suing Aramco over the death of his beloved beauty queen camel? He has actually won case. Saudi Gazette reports that the General Court in Khobar has ordered the oil giant to pay 1 million riyals to the heartbroken owner. Aramco’s lawyer said they intend to appeal the verdict with the Court of Cassation. [...]