Saudi Arabia: JCCI club to back voluntary work

Galal Fakkar -- Arab News

JEDDAH: The Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI) has set up a special club for volunteers, particularly businesswomen, to support activities promoting the city council and civic services in Jeddah.

“This club will contribute to the development of Jeddah by providing the municipal council with ideas and proposals to find solutions to the city’s problems with concerned sectors,” said JCCI Secretary-General Mustafa Sabri.

Sabri recalled the directives of Makkah Gov. Prince Khaled Al-Faisal to initiate development programs in Makkah, Jeddah and Taif — key cities of the province — over the next five years.

Ulfat Qabbani, chairman of the Jeddah Council for Social Responsibility at the JCCI, said the club would encourage businessmen and businesswomen to voluntarily serve the community. “This club will give a real boost to Jeddah’s municipal council and will further enhance voluntary activities,” she added.

Tariq Fadaaq, director of the council, said the club would establish direct and more effective means of communication between members of the public and officials, and would help find solutions to a number of problems facing the city.

“The municipal council has so far received 140 complaints on various civic issues of which 80 percent have been resoved,” Fadaaq added.

The director confirmed that the council would deal with each complaint in 48 hours and said it had made remarkable achievements in the city’s development.

He added that the council had signed an agreement with King Abdulaziz University to initiate projects to solve certain issues facing the city.

Fadaaq said under the agreement, 50 students distributed questionnaires asking the public what they felt was required from the municipal council and how to promote the role of the youth in society.

Muhammad Abu Dawoud, a council member, said the new club would convey the opinions of businesswomen to the council to enrich civic work in the city.