Saudi Supermarkets Functionig Affected by Saudiazation

RIYADH, 27 June 2003 — Saudiaization of supermarkets is causing serious problems in customer relation and inefficient operation, says a report from Saudi Arabia. According to media reports, Saudi nationals who are replacing expatriates are found to be quarreling with expatriate customers.

According to one report, an young Saudi cashier at a major supermarket chain on Dhabab Street created a scene on Wednesday night when he refused to move the items from an expatriate’s shopping basket onto the counter for scanning.

Instead the cashier asked the expatriate — from the Subcontinent — to do the unloading himself. The expatriate refused on the grounds that it was the duty of the cashier to place the items on the scanner, reports said.

"When the cashier remained adamant, the shopping supervisor, also a non-Saudi, was called to discipline him. When his words fell on deaf ears of the Saudi cashier, a Bangladeshi employee of the supermarket came forward to do the job," reported the Arab News

These instances provide a glimpse of Saudization at work in the supermarkets. The Saudis who have replaced the expatriates at the cash counters think it beneath their dignity to serve expatriate shoppers, especially if they happen to be from the Subcontinent.

According to senior manager of one of the oldest supermarkets on Takhassusi Street the store had to fire 20 out of 50 new Saudi recruits within a short period due to frequent absenteeism, lack of punctuality and excessive use of mobile phones at counters. He added that the decision was taken on the basis of complaints from the customers due to billing errors.

Saudization of jobs in the supermarkets along with IT, health care and construction sectors are part of the comprehensive strategy drawn up by the Human Resources Development Fund to create 20,000 jobs for Saudis this year. To meet the target, it has compelled the private sector to fall in line.

“We are hiring Saudis, but they don’t stick around for long,” the Arab News said qauoting the administration manager of a multinational construction company. Many new Saudi recruits played truant or reported sick very often.

“We have three gates to be manned by 10 Saudi guards. This is just to fulfill the requirement for Saudization, as we have been taken to court by the Labor Office for non-compliance with the five percent annual Saudization rule. But the caliber of the Saudi manpower is such that we have no alternative but to fire them and again place ads for fresh recruits,” he added. -keralamonitor.com

Tunisian cyber-dissident Zouhair Yahyaoui, winner of the first Cyber-Freedom Prizeawarded by Reporters s@ns frontières - Globenet for 2003

Reporters Without Borders is honouring a cyber-dissident who is being prevented from informing us via the Internet. The first prizewinner is Tunisian cyber-dissident Zouhair Yahyaoui, sentenced to two years in prison. Yahyaoui's fiancée, Sophie Piekarec, received the Prize on his behalf at a ceremony in Paris.

Yahyaoui's fiancée, Sophie Piekarec, received the 7,600 euro Prize on his behalf at a ceremony in Paris today. The Prize goes to an Internet user who, through their professional activity or principled positions, demonstrates their support for the free flow of information online.

Zouhair Yahyaoui in jail - How President Ben Ali responds to satire

In Borj el Amri prison on the outskirts of Tunis, 4 June 2003 was the first anniversary of the arrest of Zouhair Yahyaoui, 35, cyber-dissident and creator of the website TUNeZINE.

It was also the day his French fiancée, Sophie Piekarec, had wanted to spend in Tunis with Yahyaoui's family. She flew over specially from Paris, but was turned back when she landed at Tunis airport.

What crime did Yahyaoui commit to deserve this ? A young unemployed university graduate and Internet enthusiast, Yahyaoui launched a news website from within Tunisia in July 2001. It was the only way to express oneself in this country of censorship. Using the pseudonym Ettounsi, Yahyaoui quickly began drawing lots of young visitors to TUNeZINE. His recipe was humour and sarcasm. In July 2001, TUNeZINE began reflecting the concerns of human rights defenders by being the first site to post an open letter to President Ben Ali from Judge Mokhtar Yahyaoui (Zouhair Yahyaoui's uncle) criticising the complete lack of judicial independence in Tunisia.

Written mostly in the Tunisian vernacular, the posts of Yahyaoui and his team upset the authorities. Tunisia's cyber-police, who are among the most effective in the world, were ordered to track them down.

He was arrested in an Internet café in a Tunis suburb on 4 June 2002 by ten plain-clothes policemen, who took him to his home and searched his room, taking his computer equipment. During interrogation by members of the Directorate for State Security (DES), an offshoot of the interior ministry, he revealed the password to his website. He was also tortured. After a summary trial, an appeal court sentenced him on 10 July 2002 to two years in prison for "spreading false news."

Yahyaoui has continued his fight from his prison cell. The only way now for him to combat the injustice of which he is a victim is hunger strikes. He has staged three of them since the beginning of 2003. They have left him weak, but he has not given up. -keralamonitor.com