MAKKAH: Authorities are studying how to reduce the large number of visas issued to foreign workers recruited for temporary work during the pilgrimage seasons and replace them with local staff. A committee with representatives from the Makkah Emirate and the ministries of Interior, Trade and Industry and Haj, hopes through the measure to tackle the number of workers who overstay their visas illegally, end the illegal sale of visas, and open up employment opportunities for Saudis and non-Saudi residents. The committee seeks to determine the precise need of companies in terms of numbers and oblige recruiting firms to comply by setting strict penalties for offenders. It also wants to see persons employed in official jobs to be permitted to work temporarily during the pilgrimage seasons with official time off granted by the board of civil service. Authorities discovered during the last Haj season that cleaning contractor firms had illegally sold 2,200 visas obtained legally to recruit persons from abroad for temporary work. The committee has tasked the Makkah Chamber of Commerce with studying the needs of firms working in pilgrimage seasons, and the Chamber is expected to commence soon its registration of seasonal positions designated for Saudis. The second phase of the Chamber's scheme will look at non-Saudi permanent residents of Makkah and assess the availability of workers wishing to work during pilgrimages and their professional skills. Vice Chairman of the Chamber Ziyad Farisi said that large numbers of visas are currently being processed for firms recruiting for the next Haj season. “We are of the view that Saudis are more entitled to these jobs and companies' help in that is regarded as a service to society,” Farisi said. “Unfortunately what we currently see in the Haj season when vacant seasonal jobs are announced at the Automobile Federation or the Islamic Development Bank, for example, is that only very few people apply for them and they are forced to look for alternatives abroad.” He said that all requests for visas would be “closely scrutinized” to ensure that the need is genuine. “There will be no leniency, monitoring is strict on this issue,” he said. “It requires organization and commitment.” The Islamic Development Bank employs some 14,000 persons from abroad every year in temporary pilgrimage season jobs. Tawafa firms recruit around 20,000. A survey of 241 pilgrim companies in Saudi Arabia showed that each one employed on an average around 200 persons for seasonal work. Of those 241 are 51 Umrah firms that require supervisors, group leaders, guides, drivers, security staff, cooks and cleaners. Sa'ad Al-Quraishi, Chairman of the United Haj and Umrah Committee, said that the failure to exploit local resources was resulting in “massive sums of money going abroad”. “Using local staff would also save the expenses of accommodation, transport, and visa fees, and it would bring stability to non-Saudi residents in the Kingdom and further relieve companies of having to search for staff every season,” he said .
