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JEDDAH – James Smith, the United States’ Ambassador to the Kingdom, has praised the Saudi people, describing them as loving and friendly.
The ambassador made the comment during an Iftar party hosted recently by the American Consulate in Jeddah. He said he has many Saudi friends in Jeddah and Riyadh despite the short time he has been working in the Kingdom.
He also stressed the historical links between the two countries.
Present at the party were the consul-generals of Gulf, Arab and foreign countries, businessmen, press representatives, and Thomas Daffy, the American consul. – Okaz/SG

RIYADH – A plan has been designed to tackle any potential risk from dangerous viruses during this year’s Haj, according to Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabeah, Minister of Health.
He said the Kingdom succeeded last year in tackling the H1N1 pandemic, Asharq Al-Awsat Arabic daily reported on Thursday.
He added that an international forum will be held in October, under the patronage of King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, to showcase the Saudi experience in crowd and health management.
A study on the management of crowds and human gatherings will also be presented to delegates.
He said the Kingdom was able to control the swine flu virus at all sites last year. He said the preventive health measures adopted by the Kingdom have drawn the world’s attention to the country. – Okaz/SG

RIYADH – Some health institutes meet high standards, but most others do not, Abdullah Al-Zuhayan, Director of Public Relations and Information at the Saudi Commission for Health Specializations, has said.

“There are excellent institutes that produce highly qualified Saudi youths every year, but there are others that have not reached our aspirations,” said Al-Zuhayan, who added that there is a strategic plan to upgrade the sector.

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RIYADH – Poverty is forcing some cancer patients to stop receiving treatment, said Dr. Abdul Rahman Al-Kharachi, executive director of the Anti-Cancer Charitable Society in Riyadh.
Some patients have incomes of less than SR3,000, and they cannot pay for transportation and food in cities where they are treated and have no choice but to stop getting medical care, he said.
This problem has led his organization to meet with officials from the Ministry of Social Affairs to discuss providing government aid to the people who face this challenge, said Dr. Al-Kharachi, who suggested that each person receives SR12,000 per year for transportation and food expenses.
He said his group, which covers transportation and food costs, has received more than SR1 million in donations through text messages on 5070 and added that it needs more contributions to meet the expenses of 3,000 patients it helps.
He said the society, which has served 28,000 people, has an agreement with a private hospital to provide convalescence services to patients who can’t get treatment in government hospitals. The charity is working to buy a building so it can directly provide that care, Dr. Al-Kharachi added. – Okaz/SG

JEDDAH/RIYADH – The Control and Investigation Board has found that about 20 percent of government employees did not show up for work on Tuesday, a day before beginning of the Eid holidays – with the absentee rate reaching 92.3 percent in one authority, sources said.
Results of the investigation, which found 68,639 people were absent, forced officials to consider implementing palm-print authentication of attendance to limit absenteeism on last working days before official holidays, sources said.
Absentees will be referred to authorities for measures to be taken against them, source said.
According to the current system, employees who are absent on the last day before the holiday are counted as being absent for one day, while absence on the first day of work after the Eid holiday is counted as two days’ absence.
Sources said the palm-print system would likely be implemented after inspectors found defects in the current system of monitoring work attendance.
A large number of employees sign in the column for leaving the office the next day when they arrive to sign in for a new day and some people sign in and out for their absent colleagues.
Sources said that because daily inspections cannot cover all government offices, the palm-print system would be linked with the CIB.
Women’s sections in numerous government authorities need effective supervision and the CIB cannot impose the system due to the small number of women’s jobs, sources added.
Meanwhile, the CIB disclosed that a number of government agencies are not implementing Paragraph 2 of Article 10 of the end-of-service regulation, which stipulates that employees can be terminated if they are absent for 15 consecutive days or 30 separate days in one year.
The CIB also noticed that several government authorities are ignoring the regulation regarding disciplinary action against employees who are repeatedly absent.
A number of government authorities also ignore the Civil Service regulation stipulating that employees should not be paid for days they are absent, according to sources.
The CIB carried out 13,634 tours covering 28 ministries and government authorities. These tours covered 888,705 employees and 68,639 cases of absenteeism were detected.
The percentage of absenteeism in government authorities ranged between 92.3 percent and 7.7 percent, investigators said.
The CIB investigators also found that some employees who received transportation allowances improperly used official vehicles and in some cases used them after work, which is a violation punishable by the law. – Okaz/SG

JEDDAH – Petrochemicals sent Saudi Arabias stock benchmark Tadawul All Share Index (TASI) to a two-week high on Wednesday, rising 0.86 percent to 6,158.99 points, tracking rising oil prices. But volumes may be too low for these gains to signal the start of a more sustained rally.

Benchmark US crude oil futures for October rose $1.99, or about 2.8 percent to settle at $73.91 a barrel.

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SEOUL – South Koreas Doosan Heavy Industries and Construction Co Ltd said on Wednesday it has won a $1.46 billion contract to build a new desalination plant in Saudi Arabia.

The plant will produce 1.025 million cubic meters of desalinated water per day and will be integrated with a 2,400 megawatts (MW) power plant, in Ras Azzour, on the Gulf coast.

The plant, expected to be the worlds largest would be completed in January 2014, Doosan said in a statement on the Korea Stock Exchange.

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JEDDAH – The pace of Saudi economy slowed down as a result of laggard corporate activity during the holiday period despite a boost in consumer spending, Riyadh-based Jadwa Investment said on Tuesday. It said July data revealed that the Kingdoms economic growth has been punctuated by the start of summer holiday season and the advent of Ramadan.

Broad money supply (M3) growth fell to its lowest level in over a decade as low interest rates continued to encourage consumers to withdraw funds from savings accounts. Just under $15.5 billion has been wiped off the total value of savings accounts in the past year.

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JEDDAH: Government agencies in the Kingdom including the Passport Department and Civil Status Department will be working skeleton crews during the Eid holiday and are urging the public to only approach them for emergency services.

“Our offices will operate during the holidays to accept emergency cases of citizens and residents that cannot be postponed,” said Maj. Gen. Salim Al-Belaihed, director general of the Passport Department.

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RIYADH: At least three people were reported injured when gunmen opened fire outside a mosque in Riyadh on Wednesday night. However, senior police officials told Arab News that only one person was hit.

The shootout, that sent shock waves throughout the local community, took place outside the Prince Sultan Mosque. The mosque shooting – the first criminal act of its kind to take place during the holy month of Ramadan in the capital – happened after taraweeh prayers.

According to reports, the imam and the muezzin of the mosque were also injured. It was claimed that both were released after they received medical treatment at a clinic, while the third person was hospitalized.

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