Middle East

Jeddah, Jun 4: The Shoura Council yesterday lambasted the Ministry of Culture and Information for presenting a weak annual report to the consultative body and said the report failed to meet its expectations. “The ministry’s report gave poor coverage of cultural events as its main focus was on media activities,” said Fahaad Al-Hamad, assistant president. Some Shoura members had the impression that

Jeddah, Jun 3: Passengers using King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah can now enjoy free Internet services. The General Authority of Civil Aviation yesterday launched the service at departure lounges of KAIA’s Northern and Southern Terminals. GACA’s IT Department has set up 42 Wi-Fi systems at the airport to provide the much-awaited service with the support of a specialized company. The

Jeddah, Jun 2: The Labor Ministry has made it mandatory for any organization, whether schools, companies or offices, to reserve vacancies in 19 job categories for only Saudis. These are: Executive HR manager, HR manager, labor affairs manager, staff relations manager, staff relations specialist, staff relations clerk, recruitment clerk, staff affairs clerk, attendance control clerk, receptionist

Dubai, Jun 1: The Ministry of Labour (MoL) has issued an administrative order specifying exemptions from the recently-announced midday break rule for labourers who work in the sun. Workers can continue in banned hours if they are working on outdoor projects that cannot be postponed for technical reasons, such as repairing damages to water pipes, petrol pipes, sewage pipes, or on disconnected

Jeddah, May 30: The Indian rupee dropped to its lowest level in 10 months and one Saudi riyal was fetching almost Rs. 15 yesterday. "My remittance fetches more rupees now." This is how the average Indian expatriate is reacting to the situation. However, some Indian expatriates felt the falling trend of the rupee will have an adverse impact on their national economy in the long term. "Yes, in the

Jeddah, May 30: Eight new tunnels, including two for pedestrians, are under construction in the holy city of Makkah to ensure free flow of pilgrims and vehicles, press reports said yesterday. “The tunnels are constructed as part of King Abdullah Project for Expansion of Makkah and holy sites,” one source said, adding that they would be ready for use shortly. The project includes construction of

Jeddah, May 27: More than 600,000 jobs have been nationalized under Nitaqat initiative. This was revealed yesterday by Labor Minister Adel Fakeih at a Jeddah social dialogue workshop on policies and wage levels in the private sector. Deputy Labor Minister Ahmad Al-Humaidan said the ministry is disappointed with the wage level of Saudi workers in the private sector. He said the ministry is working

Geneva, May 25: The World Health Organization said yesterday it would help Saudi Arabia dig deeper into deadly outbreaks of a new SARS-like virus to draw up advice ahead of the annual Haj. The UN agency, which is not currently recommending any restrictions on travel to the Kingdom or screening of passengers at airports or entry points, will send a second team of experts in the coming weeks, WHO

Jeddah, May 24: A labor shortage caused by the departure of thousands of illegal foreign workers, along with increasing commercial activity in the Kingdom, is likely to see a rise in the salaries of expatriates, according to analysts and business leaders.Housemaids and drivers who have corrected their residential status are already demanding monthly salaries of SR 2,000 instead of SR 800, to the

Riyadh, May 22: Twenty percent of private sector companies in Saudi Arabia are not meeting quotas for the employment of nationals, despite a program aimed at boosting recruitment that launched two years ago, a labor official was quoted as saying on Monday. Nitaqat, a government-led Saudization program, was launched with the aim of increasing the number of nationals employed in private sector