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Shoura panel calls for reopening of Alkhobar port

By By MD RASOOLDEEN RIYADH: The Shoura Council's Committee on Transport, Communications and Information Technology recommended Sunday the reopening of the Alkhobar seaport during the presentation of the Saudi Ports Authority 's annual report.

Secretary-General of the Shoura Muhammad Al-Ghamdi told reporters the council felt that the opening of the Alkhobar seaport would facilitate movement of liners to and from Bahrain.

The Shoura also agreed to expedite the completion of a study aimed at restructuring the Saudi Ports Authority to achieve more autonomy and flexibility. It directed the ports authority to increase the operational capacity of the Kingdom's ports.

On an invitation from the Saudi Ports Authority , Shoura President Abdullah Al-Asheikh paid a visit to the Jeddah Islamic Port to get a first-hand knowledge of the operations and management of the port.

Also on Sunday, the council started deliberations on a report submitted by the Housing, Water and Public Services Committee, which emphasized the need for a central body to oversee the maintenance and operations of rest stations located on highways throughout the country.

"Such a body could streamline the services offered to motorists and road users during long trips," said Al-Ghamdi.

The toilet facilities, eateries and mosques are typically in states of disrepair and neglect. The draft plan of the Shoura to improve these services contain seven articles.

The Shoura committee cited in its report that these service centers were not in a position to make the minimum level of services available to road users, including pilgrims.

The current standard of these service centers does not create a positive impression of the Kingdom, which is witnessing fast growth in all walks of life. They are not at all suited to the Kingdom's economic and social status, especially when compared to the standard of its highly advanced road networks, the report noted.

According to the committee, the highway service centers also have a negative impact on the development of the Kingdom's potential tourism sector. Motorists and road users are fed up with the dismal state of service stations and the poor standard of services offered to them in their hour of need in the midst of long and tedious travel along highways.

The committee met with representatives of a number of ministries and other agencies while preparing the report. They included the Ministry of Transport, Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs, the Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities (SCTA), and the Council of the Saudi Chambers of Commerce and Industry, in addition to owners and operators of a number of service centers and fuel stations. It was revealed in the meeting that the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs opined that the new regulations would help upgrade the standard and quality of service centers up to 80 percent, while the Ministry of Transport and the SCTA gave a rating of 20 percent in improving the services.

Some of the representatives expressed doubts over the effective implementation of most of the conditions and provisions of the new law. They underlined the need for specialized companies rather than individuals to undertake the establishment and operation of service centers. At present, an overwhelming majority of service stations are run by individuals.

The committee stressed the need for taking measures to improve the condition of service centers on highways. The report highlighted provisions of the draft law to be adopted in order to upgrade the standard of service centers. They included the transfer of authority for supervision of the service stations from the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs to the Ministry of Transport; the establishment of model service centers together with police stations and Red Crescent Society branches along a new network of roads that are under construction; the formation of a permanent committee headed by the SCTA to prepare the necessary regulations for running these centers and improve their standard of services; introduction of quality standards for best performance; and granting concessions to specialized companies to operate service centers and fuel stations on major highways.

The draft regulations also stressed the need for encouraging specialized local and foreign companies to make investments in this sector, as well as to manage and operate them. It also called for giving a two-year grace period for the existing centers to upgrade their standards and quality of services in line with the new regulations.

© Arab News 2011