1692 mobile stores shut down for noncompliance

A wave of government inspection campaigns have been carried out in order to monitor the application of the first phase of the job nationalization program in the mobile phone industry.
The latest inspections revealed an alarming number of violations of the law. Officials from the Ministry of Labour and Social Development detected 2,983 violations across the country, of which 2,167 were referred to the sanctions panel, while the inspection teams closed down 1,692 shops, including 498 facilities in Asir. A further 816 shops received warnings. The Ministry of Labor and Social Development in cooperation with the Technical and Vocational Training Corporation have meanwhile trained 27,983 Saudi men and women in the field of telecommunication who spent 25,300 hours in apprenticeship over three months.
Khaled Abalkhail, spokesman for the ministry, said that advanced maintenance program will be open for registration in order to sharpen citizens’ telecom skills.
According to the latest statistics, male trainees have represented the largest percentage of enrollment in the training programs (75.92%) compared to 24.08% of the registered females.
The spokesman said the Makkah region registered the most number of enrolled trainees (22%) and it was followed by the Eastern Province and Riyadh with 12%, in addition to 9% in both Asir and Madinah, 7% in Jouf and Jizan, 5% in Tabuk and Qassim, 3% in Ha’il and Najran and 2% in the Northern Borders and Al-Baha.
Abalkhail said the percentage of the trainees who completed the requirements of the training programs reached 88 percent.

Source: Arab News