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Suspense surrounds names of low-cost Haj operators

August 18, 2014

Jeddah, Aug 18: The Haj Ministry is all set to hand over accommodation blocks in Mina to low-cost Haj operators ahead of the annual pilgrimage.

The ministry, however, has still not announced the names of the operators who have been allotted the housing, which enables local pilgrims to perform Haj at reduced costs.Mina Hajj

The Civil Defense, Saudi Electricity Company (SEC), National Water Company (NWC) and other agencies finalized site inspections last week. Haj Minister Bandar Hajar also inspected the site.

“Providers are not allowed to modify structures allotted to them and are required to provide a comprehensive security system to prevent unauthorized entry into housing units meant for low-cost pilgrims,” said Sahil Al-Sabyan, a senior official at the Haj Ministry.

Around 41,000 pilgrims within the Kingdom will be performing Haj this year under the scheme, which was introduced by the ministry last year. More than 17,000 pilgrims were able to benefit from the scheme the first time it ran.

The 50 percent reduction in the quota of local pilgrims triggered a price war last year, prompting the ministry to focus more on low-cost accommodation this year.

The 41,000 pilgrims will be distributed among 62 operators.

Many pilgrims have expressed frustration over the fact that the names of the operators of low-cost Haj has not been announced.

“I hope to perform Haj if I qualify for the low-cost category, otherwise I will just go home on vacation,” said Mohammed Ali Azad, an Indian expatriate.

“I also tried to qualify last year, but was unable to find any low-cost operators despite reading ads in the media. Unfortunately, the issue seems as unclear this year too.”

The low-cost Haj scheme is divided into eight categories, ranging from SR1,500 for an e-class package to SR7,500 for the a-class category depending on the Haj services provided in each package.

The Haj Ministry has made arrangements for a total of 168,000 to perform Haj this year.

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Agencies
July 28,2020

Dubai, Jul 28: Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (ADCB) (ADCB.AD) is letting go hundreds of employees, sources said, the latest in a round of lay-offs by regional banks as pressure mounts to cut costs amid lower oil prices and the coronavirus crisis.

The UAE’s third-biggest lender is laying off 400 employees, two sources familiar with the matter said, after it had committed to not cutting staff because of the crisis.

In a statement, a spokesman said ADCB had pursued efficiency over the last decade by managing out its lowest underachievers after regular reviews, while ensuring talent was deployed in high-growth areas, such as digital banking.

“A certain number of redundancies are therefore expected every year in the normal course of business,” the bank spokesman added.

The sources said the cuts would involve ADCB’s consumer business and several in top management were among those being let go. One source said the bank was looking to close 20 branches.

In March, ADCB had declared, “No employee will be made redundant during 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.”

UAE banks have been hit by government measures to rein in the spread of the virus, forcing many businesses to shut temporarily.

Last week, Dubai’s largest bank, Emirates NBD, reported a slump of 58% in profits. In June, sources told Reuters the bank started a new round of hundreds of lay-offs.

In May, ADCB reported a fall of 84% in first-quarter net profit as it took impairments of $292 million on debt exposure to troubled hospital operator NMC Health and payments group Finablr.

It was a major lender, with an exposure of about $981 million, to NMC Health, which went into administration this year after months of turmoil following questions over financial reporting.

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coastaldigest.com news network
May 12,2020

Riyadh, May 12: Saudi Arabia will impose a full-day lockdown and curfew across the Kingdom during the upcoming Eid holidays from May 23 until May 27, according to the Kingdom’s Interior Ministry.

Details are awaited

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News Network
April 28,2020

Dubai, Apr 28: Riyadh municipality has announced 13 requirements to restore commercial activity in malls starting Wednesday (April 29), in accordance with the government’s coronavirus precautionary measures.

The requirements include: the continued closure of all entertainment and playing areas inside malls, and not allowing the entry of children under the age of 15.

The municipality requires all malls to ensure the availability of medical examination and sterilization teams to measure the temperature of all individuals entering the mall at all entrances throughout opening hours, prevent any person with a temperature exceeding 38 degrees Celsius from entering, remove all chairs and benches in the corridors, and provide masks and gloves for visitors at the entrances.

All malls are to have security personnel stationed at all entrances to ensure that visitors are wearing masks.

The municipality also requires all malls to sterilize the entire facility every 24 hours, allocate rooms for medical isolation when there is any suspicion of an individual being infected with COVID-19, ensure the presence of a sufficient number of security personnel, and carry out regular rounds to verify full compliance, and suspend the valet service.

It also called for malls to put up explanatory signs of the guidelines to ensure that everyone understands the precautionary measures.

Malls should rely on the use of escalators and stairs for movement between floors, and in the event they are not available, only two people are allowed to ride the elevator at a time.

Revised curfew

Saudi Arabia had revised on April 21 its coronavirus curfew timings for the holy month of Ramadan, allowing residents in all areas and cities not currently under a 24-horu lockdown to go out between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.

However, areas under a complete lockdown will only be allowed to go out for essential needs, such as grocery shopping or medical visits, between the hours of 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Residents in these areas must stay within their neighborhoods

A 24-hour lockdown was previously imposed on the cities of Riyadh, Tabuk, Dammam, Dhahran, and Hofuf and throughout the governorates of Jeddah, Taif, Qatif, and Khobar.

The government had imposed a full lockdown on the holy cities of Makkah and Madinah as well. Other cities and governorates had a curfew implemented from 3 p.m. to 6 a.m. daily.

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