Saudi implements sweeping jobs plan

Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah presides over a Cabinet meeting in Riyadh Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah on Monday instructed all government departments to implement the short-term and long-term plans he approved for creating jobs for the increasing number of Saudi graduates.
The new plans are expected to create at least 70,000 new jobs for Saudi women.
King Abdullah made this comment while presiding over the weekly Cabinet meeting, which also called for the establishment of more dual-purpose desalination plants along the Kingdom’s coasts to meet the country’s water and electricity needs.
The Cabinet added a new article to the Electricity Law that made cogeneration compulsory in desalination and electricity projects constructed on the Kingdom’s coasts or in areas close to the sea or in places where adequate amounts of underground saline water are available.
The Cabinet reiterated the government’s resolve to support programs aimed at improving the performance of public departments and agencies by promoting e-dealings, strengthening the performance measurement center, activating administrative development units, and empowering monitoring bodies.
The Kingdom expressed its deep sorrow over the growing violence in Yemen that had resulted in deaths and injuries and urged all Yemeni parties to maintain restraint and work to save the country from more violence and fighting, Culture and Information Minister Abdul Aziz Khoja said.
The Cabinet also confirmed the arrival of Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh and a number of injured Yemeni officials and citizens for treatment in the Kingdom.
“Saudi Arabia and other GCC countries will continue their efforts to reach a peaceful settlement in Yemen to end fighting and protect the country's superior interests,” the Cabinet said in a statement and hoped that all Yemeni parties would sign the GCC initiative to end the crisis.
The Cabinet denounced continuing Israeli atrocities against the Palestinians as well as its new settlement projects for Jerusalem, and said Israel was violating international resolutions and obstructing the road to peace in the Middle East. The Cabinet also agreed to sign an agreement with Finland to combat crimes.
The Kingdom decided to implement a resolution adopted by the GCC summit in Kuwait on Dec. 15, 2009 providing equal treatment for all GCC citizens in technical education. Accordingly, all qualified GCC citizens will be treated equally at the Kingdom’s institutes of technical education and vocational training.
The Cabinet approved the bylaw of the national committee for regulating operation and maintenance work and called for developing methods applied in the field by adopting modern technology, unification of operation and maintenance specifications and setting out a strategic plan to train workers in the field.