The Commission for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice (Hai'a) has been given the go-ahead to increase the number of its staff in Riyadh. Hai'a spokesman Abdul Mohsen Al-Ghafari said the Ministry of Finance had agreed to a request to increase staff at some Hai'a offices in Riyadh following a reassessment of manpower which noted that some offices were staffed by only six or seven members, “reflecting a drastic shortage in the Hai'a workforce”. Al-Ghafari said new Hai'a staff would be employed on a temporary basis and as “free-lancers”, and added that all new employees would receive intensive training in the commission's field work.The employment of new staff will be conducted in tandem with the Ministry of Finance.