JEDDAH: The “Mobadirun” forum has launched its “Khaleek Makani” (Stay Where I Am) initiative as part of a series of volunteer programs during Ramadan.
The programs aim to create awareness and a spirit of cooperation among different members of society. The plan comprises 30 different volunteer efforts during Ramadan in partnership with Dallah Academy and MBC-FM radio.
The programs target one specific group — the expats who work hard during Ramadan. The programs want to improve the image of the community in their eyes.
One volunteer, Amjad Al-Kherma, moved from his job at the Saudi Electricity Company to work at a gas station in place of an Indian employee Shafiqur Rahman. As part of this role, Amjad and his fellow volunteers must work during the day while fasting.
Majid Al-Mezain, programs and training manager at Dallah Academy, said these initiatives play an important role in spreading the spirit of cooperation between different groups in society, and help volunteers gain insight into the experiences of those whose jobs require strenuous physical work and activities.
“The initiative, held in three major cities, allowed young Saudi volunteers to not only interact with employees working as street cleaners and mechanics, but also provided the employees the rare chance to take a rest from their demanding duties,” he said.
Al-Mezain said the highly successful and welcomed initiative can be generalized and reproduced by other groups to the benefit of the community due to its simple means of application.
Other volunteer initiatives and activities which will be aired live on the radio include cleaning of mosques, visiting homes for the elderly and orphans, cleaning walls, distributing water to mosques for iftar, preparing food baskets for poor families, and launching an awareness campaign at a local mall.
Saudi volunteers help expats
Saudi volunteers help expats
Saudi Arabia launches initiative to reroute Gulf cargo to Red Sea ports
- The initiative comes as shipping through the Strait of Hormuz has been severely disrupted by the widening conflict in the region
- Since the US and Israel struck Iran last month, Tehran has moved to restrict passage through the waterway
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia has launched an initiative to redirect shipping from ports in the Arabian Gulf to its Red Sea ports amid the ongoing US-Israel-Iran war.
Transport Minister Saleh Al-Jasser, who also chairs the Saudi Ports Authority (Mawani), launched the Logistics Corridors Initiative alongside Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority Governor Suhail Abanmi, Mawani President Suliman Al-Mazroua, and other officials, the Saudi Press Agency reported.
The initiative will establish dedicated operational corridors to receive containers and cargo redirected from ports in the Kingdom's Eastern Region and other Gulf Cooperation Council states to Jeddah Islamic Port and other Red Sea coast ports.
Al-Jasser said the Kingdom was committed to ensuring supply-chain stability and the smooth flow of goods through global trade routes. Jeddah Islamic Port and other west coast ports, he added, were already playing a key role in accommodating shipments redirected from the east, while also linking Gulf cargo to regional and international markets.
The initiative comes as shipping through the Strait of Hormuz has been severely disrupted by the widening conflict in the region. Iran has long threatened to close the strait — the world's most critical oil and gas chokepoint, through which roughly a fifth of global oil supplies pass — in the event of a war.
Since the US and Israel struck Iran last month, Tehran has moved to restrict passage through the waterway, sending freight rates soaring and forcing shipping companies to seek alternative routes.
Saudi Arabia's Red Sea ports offer a viable bypass, connecting Gulf cargo to global markets without passing through the strait.
