Kholood F. Al-Rhamah

2011/11/27

2008/06/26

Summer 2008 kicks off

FRONT PAGE

By: Kholood F. Al-Rhamah

Saudi Gazette

JEDDAH – “Unforgettable” is the word that the Supreme Commission of Tourism (SCT) has been striving to label this year’s domestic tourism through its recently announced package of summer festivals and activities across the Kingdom.As the country is slowly transforming into a tourist attraction, around 25 major summer festivals will be launched across the Kingdom with the beginning of the 2008 summer break today.

The Kingdom’s summer festivals are sponsored and organized by various departments including the regions’ Emirates, municipalities, Chambers of Commerce and Industry, and tourism development authorities. “The year 2008 is bringing a spectacle of events to the Kingdom as we are trying to have a unique quality of festivals this year with a lot of efforts put into that.

The mistakes committed in the past will not be repeated as the SCT seeks a total positive summer experience for tourists in the Kingdom,” said Dr. Abdullah Bin Salman Al-Juhani, deputy of secretary general of SCT for media and marketing.“Nobody is left behind this year. We’ve planned more new activities and programs for different age groups to draw more locals,” Juhani added.

Shouldering the responsibility of coordinating among different government and private agencies, the SCT has launched campaigns for summer entertainment and adventurous activities in Riyadh, Jeddah, Abha, Najran, Taif, Tabuk, Hail, Jizan and many other cities, Juhani said.

“If history is your thing, then these cities are thriving with cultural aspects,” he added.Phase one of the promotion campaign called “Saudi Arabia Joy Summer 08” was launched on April 26. “We want families to enjoy their summer vacation inside Saudi Arabia for which we’ve launched the campaign so early,” Dr. Fahd Al-Garbooa, deputy assistant of secretary general for marketing at SCT said.

The promotion started right after the spring break to help families to have an idea of local tourism so they would start arranging their trips before getting busy with final exams, he said.Each city has its own way in celebrating the summer break with festivals inspired by the city’s tradition and culture.

In addition to “Riyadh Shopping Festival 2008” organized by the city’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry where prices are slashed to half, the city will hold entertainment activities at its shopping malls and public parks, Garbooa said.With a major inflow of 3 million tourists, diverse and energetic Jeddah will continue with its annual ‘Jeddah is Different’ or ‘Jeddah Ghair’ for 45 days, he said.

A big chunk of tourists to Jeddah come to perform Umrah as the city serves as a gateway to Makkah and Madinah. Taif will also have its annual festival “Taif Is More Beautiful” or ‘Taif Ahla’ at King Fahd Sports City in Hawiyah.Further south, the beautiful city of Abha will launch its 10th annual festival dubbed “Abha Tourism” under the patronage of Prince Faisal Bin Khaled, Emir of Asir.

Tourists are said to expect some pleasant surprises.In the Eastern Province, Ahsa will hold its 3rd annual summer festival with theater shows and poetry reciting.Other summer festivals are also planned in Qassim, Buraidah, Onaizah and Hail.

2008/06/23

Tourism to help shape the future economy

By Kholood F. Al-Rahmah

Saudi Gazette

Monday, 23 June 2008

JEDDAH – The tourism industry in the Kingdom is picking up steam with a new strategy to attract a high inflow of 25 percent of total domestic tourists of foreign tours by 2025.

It might be one generation away, but work has already begun. The Supreme Commission of Tourism (SCT) has launched an ambitious plan to develop the virgin areas along the Kingdom’s 1800-km long Red Sea coast at a cost of nearly SR150 billion to position the area as a premier vacation destination.

The new strategy was authorized as part of a comprehensive package by the Council of Ministers to establish a multitude of coast attractions along the Red Sea. Prince Sultan Bin Salman, Secretary General of the SCT, said that this ambitious development project of the Red Sea coast would continue through 2025.

“It will be gradually executed to yield desired results,” he said. As a wealth of resorts, attractions, and recreational facilities along the Red Sea would be tucked between and behind modern concrete monoliths, the development plan has sought to keep the coast’s natural beauty intact, he said.

New resorts will be established in Arrayes in Yanbu, Ras Muhaisen in the Makkah region, Haridha in the Asir region, Farsan in Jizan, and Ras Humaid, Sharma, Qayyal and Dhaffat Al Wajh in the Tabuk region Standing on equal footing with world-class tourism projects to pave the way for a complete tourist experience, the development plan is also expected to provide more than 557,000 hotel rooms and 413,000 job opportunities.

As approved by the Council of Ministers, the new strategy involves other government agencies including the Ministry of Defense and Aviation, the Ministry of Interior, and the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs, and the General Presidency of the Meteorological and Environment Protection, and the National Authority for Wildlife Protection.

As the SCT plans its future projects, it has already geared its efforts to raise the bar for this year’s summer experience. With its new responsibly to supervise hotels and rental apartments, the Commission has recently held a workshop to discuss a new mechanism for their overall operations; a job that was handed over to the Commission from the Ministry of Commerce.

“We have many projects in the development program, including the foundation project to upgrade the hotel industry, including its training and future expansion plans,” said Dr. Salah Bakhiet, Deputy Secretary General of SCT for Investment.

The Commission has obtained stats to build a database for connecting all hotels and rental apartments in the Kingdom in one integrated network, he said.As the number of tourists and visitors to the Kingdom has increased, so has the number of hotels opening the door for unprecedented business opportunities in the Kingdom, he said.

The tourism sector, including Haj and Umrah, currently contributes six percent to the Kingdom’s GDP, or SR55 billion. The new resorts are expected to attract about 19 percent of total domestic tourists. Annual tourist spending is valued at SR9.9 billion.

To further its efforts to boost its tourism economy, the Commission has responded with a program called ‘Attracting Investment’ which helps both small and big tourism investment firms to find profitable business opportunities in the new development program along the Red Sea,Bakhiet said.

2008/04/26

Cancer seminar highlights survivals experiences

Thursday, 24 April 2008

By Kholood F. Al-Rhamah
Saudi Gazette

JEDDAH – The King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center (KFSH) held an educational symposium about cancer that highlighted the experiences of survivors of the disease.

KFSH’s Tumors and Spinal Cord Department held the event under the patronage of Princess Alia’a Bint Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz at the Jeddah Hilton, on Monday.

The event was sponsored by Sanofi Aventis Company.

“We are about to hold a guidance program to help cancer patients and their families get through their ordeal,” said Princess Alia’a. “We aim to shed more light more on the personal experiences in the field.”

“It is very important to make periodical checks to discover the disease early,:” said Dr. Tareq Lingawi, Executive General Manager of KFSH.

“Discovering the disease early enough will give us the time and the possibility to cure it, or at least to try to find ways to contain it.”

The seminar focused on the fact that cancer can happen for anyone, with no regard to age or gender.

Two cancer survivors participated in the seminar. One of them talked about his own experience with the disease, and the other talked about his son’s ordeal.

“I don’t consider cancer a deadly disease,” said Ghazy Kayal, who managed to defeat cancer, laughing off the disease. “We only die when it is our time. (Death) is our destiny.”

“Early discovery of the disease is the most important thing to recover and live our lives,” he said.
“Also, strong faith in God is the best antidote for the patient’s emotions, so I just live my life and I don’t care about anything else,” Kayal added with a laugh.

Kamal Abdul Gader, a journalist, talked about his suffering with his two-year-old son’s affliction.
“You can only imagine the agony and the suffering his mother and I are going through,” he said. “The first advice I would give to any parent in my position is to avoid all marital problems and focus on one thing only: your child’s health.”

“The most difficult thing in my case,” he added, “was my emotional state. I was torn apart between him and my other two children. That’s why I placed my phone number at the children’s tumors department in KFSH, so any parent with the same condition can call me for help with the ordeal”.

He said that a parent with a child afflicted with cancer needs to have three things:“Patience, prayers, and giving money away for charity.”

Besides Lingawi, speakers at the seminar were Professor Ezz Eldien Ibrahim, head of the symposium and chief of the tumors department and the research center at KFSH, Dr. Abbas Zagnoon, who talked about alternative medicine, and Shiekh Hani Refaei, who talked about religious supplication.

2008/04/23

Hemaya targets 10 million addicts

By Kholood F. Al-Rhamah

Monday, 14 April 2008

Saudi Gazette

JEDDAH - In cooperation with the General Command of Dubai Police and the United Nations’ Regional Office in United Arab Emirates, Islamic preacher Amr Khaled launched his anti-drugs campaign, Hemaya, in an effort to combat drug addiction among more than 10 million addicts in the Arab World. The campaign concluded its events that went on for almost five weeks, taking place in many countries around the Arab World including Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Kuwait, Morocco, Algeria, and United Arab Emirates.

Hemaya’s primary goal was to educate society members and draw in their participation in its activities, which aimed towards a drug-free generation. The five-week campaign concentrated on convincing those who are healthy to stay away from drugs and on encouraging addicts to seek treatment.

In an interview on Al Rabiya.net, Amr Khaled said that the goal of the program was to distribute one million posters bearing the campaign’s motto, “Stop drugs, Change your Life”, in youth gatherings like clubs, universities and schools.

“ Our second goal was to arrange five thousand events in Arab countries, in which youngsters would receive advice from their peers in concerts, Friday ceremonies, school seminars, marathons and religious seminars, in addition to media coverage and other activities with celebrities,” Khaled said.

“The first and second goals are means to achieve the third goal which is to get five thousand Arab addicts in treatment and rehabilitation programs, a process that will take from four to six months,” Khaled added. The campaign management set a communication center and e-mail addresses to communicate with and encourage those seeking treatment while guaranteeing the confidentiality of their personal information. Hospitals participated in the campaign by offering 50 percent discounts on rehabilitation programs, according to Al Rabiya.net.

The campaign’s modest budget was raised by society members that responded to the call of Amr Khaled in addition to media and charitable organizations like Life Makers, while many volunteered to work in rehabilitation centers. The program of the campaign also focused on helping inmates in correctional facilities overcome their addiction on drugs.According to Al-Arabiyah.net, The United Nation’s anti-drug office’s sponsorship and participation was due to the office’s confidence in the wide popularity and influence of Amr Khaled among youngsters, which will probably play a cardinal role in convincing those on drugs to seek treatment.

Rana Al-Morabet is one of many volunteers from Life Makers, Jeddah, a charitable organization that took on most of the workload in the campaign.

“Life Makers was built on the concepts and ideas of Amr Khaled, so whenever he thinks of something we start executing immediately,” Says Al-Morabet, “400,000 brochures were distributed in malls in the first week, along with 10,000 bookmarkers, 10,000 stickers and 10,000 brooches. T-shirts bearing the campaign’s logo were distributed among cleaners in streets, since they are usually very susceptible to addiction”.

2008/04/22

Relic town to get modern services

Tuesday, 22 April 2008
By Kholood F. Al-Rhamah
Saudi Gazette

The ancient ruins of the town of Alghat are about to spring back to life.

Thanks to the Saudi Ministry of Water and Electricity, ancient history and archeology buffs would have two more reasons to go and appreciate the town’s rich history: running water and places for comfort.

The ministry has signed two contracts with a private company to connect the ancient town, outside Riyadh, with water and sewer systems.

The first contract, worth SR2.2 million, will provide the town with fresh water.

The other contract will begin with laying a main sewer line, at a cost of SR3.8 million.

Abdul-Ilah Aal Al-Sheikh, executive manager or the Tourism Development Department in Riyadh, said the rehabilitation of Alghat is part of a broader program to revamp ancient ruin towns in the Kingdom, which is being conducted by the Supreme Commission for Tourism, in cooperation with various other government agencies.

“The program aims to develop the old towns in the Kingdom economically and culturally, in a way that preserves their real identities and makes them a source of revenue for the local residents, along with providing job opportunities,” Aal Al-Sheikh told the Saudi Gazette.

The program also aims to boost tourism and jump-start services in these areas, like hotels, rented apartments, restaurants and transportation.

It would also contribute to give locals a reason to stay in their villages in order to maintain a developmental balance.

The SCT is executing the program in cooperation with the Ministries of Interior, Social Affairs, Transportation, Water and Electricity, Agriculture, Islamic Affairs, Endowments and the Call, Municipal and Rural Affairs, the Information Technology Commission, a number of private companies and local communities in various regions.

2007 Summer festivals provided 4,000 jobs

FRONT PAGE
Tuesday, 22 April 2008
By Kholood F. Al-Rhamah
Saudi Gazette

JEDDAH – Tourism activities during 2007 garnered more than SR1.3 billion in profits and provided more than 4,000 permanent and temporary job opportunities, according to a report by the Supreme Commission for Tourism.

The report said more than five million people attended 33 festivals and more than 175 other activities in 2007, a growth of a whopping 600 percent compared to 2005.

“The events sponsored by the commission had accomplished many economic and social benefits where they were held,” said Hamad Al-Sheikh, general manager of tourism products and programs at SCT. “Many new themes had been developed, like motor sport and folk shops.” “We aimed to give tourists new sites to visit by holding many events in all seasons, like Eid or the mid-year vacation, in addition to weekends and not only in the summer.”

The private sector made its own contributions in organizing the events, adding quality and economic growth, he added. “We also have partners who helped us create new events for the first time in the Kingdom, such as the Hail Rally, Obhur Tourism Festival, spring vacation festivals, Jizan Winter Tourism Festival, and the Olive Festival in Al-Jauf,” said Sheikh.

“Tourism festivals are good opportunities for Saudis to find jobs, especially with an increasing number of activities.”

2008/04/18

Environmental forum to tackle urban waste

Friday, 18 April 2008
By Kholood F. Al-Rhamah

and Adel Al-Malki
Saudi Gazette

JEDDAH – Experts in meteorology and the environment are expected to present practical solutions for waste handling in large cities at the First Jeddah Environmental Forum.

The forum is scheduled to begin on Monday through Wednesday, under the patronage of Crown Prince Sultan Bin Abdul Aziz, Deputy Premier, Minister of Defense and Aviation and Inspector General.

It is organized by the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry and supervised by the Saudi Meteorology and Environmental Protection Authority (MEPA.)More than 30 international experts will participate in the forum, headed by Dr. Farouk Al-Baz, a leading Arab-American scientist who was involved with the Apolo lunar landing program.

“The forum will focus on the main issues, such as sustainable development and water and air pollution,” Dr. Mohamed Al-Jehani, head of the First Jeddah Environmental Forum said.

“The recommendations will be prepared by a number of experts and specialists who will focus on finding solutions to water shortage problems in the whole world.”

“More than 50 million people can’t have fresh water on a daily basis,” he added. “Some people expect that the next great war will be over water.”He said that urban waste is considered a very serious issue in many countries, especially in the Middle East.

“Garbage depends on personal behavior first, because it’s part of everyone’s daily life,” said Jehani. “The real suffering comes from the health problems that arise because of the accumulation of garbage spread in random areas in developing countries.”

He added that one of the ways waste disposal can be controlled is by monitoring disposal methods of businesses and keeping it in check before it becomes life threatening.

“Incineration is a method known to be safe, provided that it’s done outside city limits,” said Jehani, “so that the resulting smoke wouldn’t affect the respiratory systems of humans and cause allergies.”

To dispose of garbage in a healthy way, he added, “there has to be a location designed specifically to handle garbage.”

“Such a facility should be able to accommodate garbage trucks, and calculate the amount of trash in each of them and what district they came from. It should also have a filtering system to dispose of the gas that results from incineration, so that chances for pollution are minimized.”

Garbage Fires and water pollution from sewers, polluted rain water, industrial waste and insects pesticides are the main reasons of pollution in Jeddah, he added.

KFSH to hold surgery conference

Friday, 18 April 2008
By Kholood F. Al-Rhamah

Saudi Gazette

JEDDAH – King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center is scheduled to hold the First International Surgery Conference on 11-14 May at the Jeddah InterContinental hotel.

The conference will discuss stethoscopic surgery and general surgery science. Various lectures by many researchers and surgical professors from all over the world are planned.

“The conference will discuss topics like tumor surgery, breast diseases, digestive diseases, and taking care of wounds in diabetics, to name a few,” said Dr. Osman A. Hammour, consultant general and laparoscopic surgeon at KFSH.

“The conference will host speakers Prof. Sir Kadshiery from England, Prof. Peterpetsia from Italy and Dr. Mohammed Ali Al-Bar, an internal consultant from Saudi Arabia.”

The conference will also organize many workshops specialized in helping trainee doctors and teach them how to prepare for a surgery test and ways to answer the questions of patients and their families.

2008/04/16

STC moves on SMS spam

FRONT PAGE

Tuesday, 15 April 2008

By Kholood F. Al-Rhamah
Saudi Gazette

JEDDAH – Unwanted SMS messages millions of people in Saudi Arabia receive on their mobile phones are about to be a thing of the past.SMS spam, which is the GSM version of spam email, has been an inconvenient aspect of the convenience of mobile phones for many people.

Internet websites from which these messages are spewed by the billions onto people’s handsets will be no more, after the shutting down of many of these websites. Countless websites buy SMS services from GSM providers, while the latter opens access to the concerned sites, letting people spam others with SMS messages that could contain just about anything, from love letters to sales promotions to nuggets of Islamic knowledge.Most of the time, those on the receiving end of the daily avalanche of spam never know who it is that is clogging their phone memory chips.“These websites are causing so much trouble for us,” said a source at Saudi Telecom (STC), who wished to remain anonymous.

“We have complained to the Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC) and asked them to shut down these websites, because they are the main sources of spam SMS,” “The service is misused by some of the service providers, and after many of our subscribers complained about it, we asserted that it had to be stopped.”He added that SMS messages, as well as some of these websites, can be used to defraud mobile users. The simplest scam is to have someone else pay your phone bill, thinking that he’s paying his own.“In one of the scams, a subscriber received a notification SMS – ostensibly from Aljawal, but with no sender’s number – telling him his bill had been issued,” said the source.

“Usually such messages (sent by Aljawal) contain the account number of your mobile, so you can enter it into any ATM machine to pay the bill. When the unsuspecting subscriber, however, entered the account number in the message, it turned out that he had just paid someone else’s bill.”The STC itself is only responsible for a specific type of messages, called Cell Broadcast Services (CBS.) These are short messages sent to subscribers announcing new services, in cooperation with government authorities and charitable organizations. There are also targeted messages, like the ones about a campaign to help kidney failure patients and antidrug campaigns.“In order for a company to buy a specific number for SMS service from STC, they have to meet certain conditions,” said the source.

“The numbers in their database have to be approved by the subscribers to whom they will send the messages, they should not send spam messages, they are not allowed to send any international messages, the content of the messages should be suitable with respect to traditions, and they should not damage the reputation of any other rival company.”He said STC retains the right to terminate the use of SMS services by any company if it received complaints from any subscriber about spam messages they had sent. The companies that send these messages are hardly short of resources to build their phone number databases. The main source, however are the subscribers themselves.

“Whenever a subscriber buys something at a shopping mall, for instance, he or she may participate in a contest,” said the source. “They fill coupons with their names and mobile numbers. After the contest is over, some companies buy the boxes in which the coupons are dropped, and fill their database with people’s personal information, including their age, sex and, of course, mobile number.”He urged subscribers not to give out their phone numbers to people they don’t know or provide that information in competitions or similar activities.Itihad Itisalat (Mobily), the second telecommunications company operating in Saudi Arabia, has its own way of dealing with spam messages.

“The percentage of spam messages our subscribers get is very low - and almost nothing compared to other networks, in fact – because our system has devices that prevent them,” said Humoud Al Ghobaini, Mobily’s spokesman and head of corporate communications. “The only messages our users receive are the ones we send to them announcing new services, and we never send more than two or three a month to each subscriber.”