The Director General of Passports (Jawazat) Maj. Gen. Sulaiman Bin Abdulaziz Al-Yahya has asserted that the Jawazat is making most of modern technology to facilitate the entry procedures for pilgrims arriving in the Kingdom within a short time while providing them the highest quality of services. Speaking after inspecting on Wednesday the progress of work at the Jawazat offices in the Pilgrims' City at Halat Ammar border crossing point, Maj. Gen. Al-Yahya said: "Apart from our field work, we are following the work progress of the Jawazat staff via special surveillance cameras and wireless communication devices installed at all of the Kingdom's airports, seaports and border crossing points as well as the productivity and performance of the staff there. All these contribute to developing and improving the standard of services and evaluating them continuously." He said that we at Jawazat are striving to innovate a technology that will contribute to raising the standard of services provided and achieving success in carrying out the plans. The use of modern technology enables the Jawazat to evaluate the standard of services provided at the ports and to determine the level of satisfaction of the beneficiaries. Communicating and speaking with the pilgrims in their language on their arrival in the Kingdom is one of the most important means for providing the service and expressing the level of satisfaction directly, he asserted. He said that the Jawazat staff at the airports, seaports and land crossing points are fluent in more than 13 languages, other than English which is the official language after Arabic. He stressed that the Jawazat gives incentives to the staff who are skillful in learning a language besides Arabic. This helps him sharpen his skills. As to Saudi women working in the Jawazat, Al-Yahya said that Saudi female staff are excelling in their work. They have actually been present in security work since many years and they are a potential that ought to be benefited from. The Jawazat female staff have been provided good education and training as required. Hence, they are well-qualified. It is a step that depicts the state's confidence in the Saudi woman's capabilities, Al-Yahya said. He said that the number of pilgrims who have arrived via the Pilgrims' City at Halat Ammar border crossing point have exceeded 17,500 since opening the border post during the month of Dhul Qa'dah. The pilgrims came from several neighboring countries. The Pilgrims' City received several buses carrying pilgrims on Tuesday. Their entry procedures were completed smoothly amid a system of high precision services. He concluded his statement by saying: "Among the facilities, to which the leadership is attaching great importance and attention, are the registering of biometric characteristics of the pilgrim. This will be of great help to the pilgrim if, God forbid, his passport is lost or stolen. He will be saved the trouble of waiting for a long time to get a travel document issued. He can get it issued fast without the need to wait or visit a particular authority."
