JEDDAH, 20 April 2008 — In a move to find a lasting solution to the conveyance problem of schoolgirls, the Hafel Bus Company was awarded contracts to transport girls in public schools in four provinces of the Kingdom.
Prince Khaled ibn Abdullah Al-Meshari, deputy minister for girls’ education, said in statement that the new scheme, which would become operational from the beginning of the next school year, was aimed at benefiting hundreds of thousands of girl students in Makkah, Riyadh, the Eastern Province and Qassim.
“The scheme is a boost to women’s education in the Kingdom. It indicates the government’s earnestness to arrange safe and comfortable transportation to the girl students,” the prince said. Studies are under way to implement the scheme in other provinces as well, the minister said.
The ministry started the girls’ transport service on an experimental basis in Madinah province in February.
Commenting on the new scheme, Chairman of the Road Transport Committee at the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry Ali Baquor said the move would save a total of more than SR2 billion annually in terms of the expenses of recruiting private drivers, new cars, spare parts and fuel. It would also save a lot of man-hours lost on roads and help ease bottlenecks on roads during peak hours.
Baquor hoped that the scheme would be implemented at university levels as well. He pointed out that private schools provided comfortable and safe travel facilities for boys and girls long ago while government schools did nothing.
Regarding the selection of the bus company, Baquor said, “The Hafel Bus Company was selected from seven large companies that submitted bids for the contract. There is no paucity for experienced bus companies in the Kingdom.”
He added that several Saudi companies are capable of offering safe and efficient transportation services. There are 16 large companies registered under the General Car Syndicate operating a total of 19,500 buses and experienced in transporting millions of pilgrim every year. The move will also create jobs for thousands of unemployed Saudis, he said.
The contract will enable the company to make use of its fleet of more than 2,000 buses, which remain idle for most part of the year after the Haj season.
