Mansour Al-Shihri
RIYADH — The Passport Department (Jawazat) is intent on upgrading the performance of its staff at the airports, seaports and border crossings through teaching them several languages to be able to communicate easily with all passengers arriving in the Kingdom for Haj, Umrah or other purposes.
The Jawazat has signed an agreement for its project of comprehensive training in its first stage with Alam company, a Saudi organization specialized in various forms of training.
The agreement was signed on Monday by Jawazat Director General Maj. Gen. Solaiman Al-Yahya and Alam's CEO Abdul Rahman Al-Jadaie.
Al-Yahya said the project was within the Jawazat plans to upgrade the performance of its personnel and promote their skills to be able to provide services to the guests of the Kingdom, its citizens and expatriates.
"The Jawazat is continuously looking for specialized programs and training courses to further qualify its staff," he said.
Al-Yahya revealed that a Jawazat training center is currently being constructed for staff training in various disciplines. "About 30 percent of the center has been competed and the construction is expected to be over by the end of the year," he added.
He said the center will be used for holding various training sessions and study courses including teaching of foreign languages to the Jawazat staff.
"We will particularly focus on the languages of South Asia and South Africa to enable our staff to communicate easily with the pilgrims and visitors from these countries," he said.
The director said the Jawazat is urgently considering a number of ideas to upgrade the level of its performance which would be revealed during the next phase.
He said there are specialized annual training sessions for all the staff to further qualify them and added that there are specialized programs to enable the staff easily recognize forged passports and the fake visas.
