DAMMAM — A spokesman of the Passports Department Ahmad Allehaidan said that expatriates working in professions other than those in their visas will be subjected to a SR100,000 fine and a two-year prison sentence, Al-Jazirah newspaper reported. The Kingdom has granted expatriates a grace period to rectify their status, but some are still committing violations by working in professions that are different from the ones in their visas. Allehaidan said that expatriates are not allowed to work in profession other than that specified in their visas, and the Ministry of Interior will conduct inspection rounds to uncover any violations, and penalize the offender accordingly. The head of the land transportation committee at the Saudi Council of Chambers, Saud Al-Nefai'ei, said that there are many expatriates who are working as private taxi drivers, while they have entered the country under a different work visa. Efforts should be coordinated to prevent such violations, and to offer a suitable and safe transportation means to the public. He added that many of these drivers have written down their telephone numbers on their cars without any monitoring from the concerned bodies. However, the traffic police has conducted campaigns to detain such drivers, but such campaigns should be supported with a public awareness drive to caution all from refraining from using such drivers. Al-Nefai'ei pointed out that there are 412 licensed companies offering this private taxis services. Most of their cars are equipped with a GPS system, which is comforting to the public, and helps in controlling drivers behavior. This system also allows for retrieving lost items that they may have left in the car. He said that the Ministry of Transportation conducts periodic inspection campaigns, but it does not have the authority to deal with private transportation cars. The traffic police regulations call for detaining such drivers and imposing a financial penalty. However, if the penalties are not enough to be deterrents then the monetary fines should be large enough, such that it will deter drivers from continuing in this line of work.
