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Thousands lose jobs as Madinah hotels are demolished

January 2, 2015

Madinah hotels

Jeddah, Jan 2: The multibillion-riyal expansion of the Prophet’s Mosque in Madinah has seen several hotels demolished, resulting in the loss of 12,000 jobs, a local Arabic daily newspaper reported Thursday.

Ghani Al-Ansari, the head of the tourism committee at the Madinah Chamber of Commerce and Industry, was quoted as saying that the government must address the issue of men and women losing their jobs.

He said almost 4,000 have already lost their jobs in the first phase of the expansion, with the same fate awaiting 8,000 more in the next few days. “We hope the government will find alternative work for them,” he said.

Several workers said they do not know what they are going to do now. Mohammed Zaheer, who worked at a hotel, said he has joined many others in looking for work.

He said the demolition of hotels in the area would benefit hotel owners but employees like him have been left to fend for themselves.

The facelift of Madinah, including the expansion of the Prophet's Mosque, is expected to cost more than SR100 billion. Ordered by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah, it will ensure the mosque can hold more than 1.6 million worshippers. The project includes SR25 billion for land acquisition.

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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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Agencies
May 17,2020

Abu Dhabi, May 17: Another 731 people have tested positive for coronavirus in the UAE, pushing the total number of COVID-19 infections to 23,358, the Ministry of Health and Prevention announced on Sunday.

Six more deaths from the novel coronavirus have been also confirmed, taking the country’s death toll to 220.

The ministry also announced the full recovery of 581 new cases after receiving the necessary treatment, taking that number up to 8,512 of total recovered patients.

New tests conducted

The latest coronavirus patients, all of whom are in a stable condition and receiving the necessary care, were identified after conducting more than 40,000 additional COVID-19 tests among UAE citizens and residents over the past few days, the ministry said.

It expressed its sincere condolences to the families of the deceased and wished a speedy recovery to all patients, calling on the public to cooperate with health authorities and comply with all precautionary measures, particularly social distancing protocols, to ensure the safety and protection of the public.

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News Network
April 20,2020

Riyadh, Apr 20: Six more people have died in Saudi Arabia after contracting coronavirus as 1,122 new coronavirus cases were reported on Monday.

The Saudi health ministry said that total number of cases in the Kingdom had increased to 10,484. It also recorded 92 new recoveries, raising the total to 1,490.

The ministry said precautionary measures shall remain to limit the virus spread.

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