JEDDAH: The Civil Affairs Department will remain open on Thursdays in some provinces to facilitate government employees to get their works related to civil status done, Al-Madinah newspaper reported yesterday.
“The Civil Affairs Department has set apart Thursdays for officials whose nature of work does not allow them to leave their offices on weekdays,” the daily quoted an official at the department’s office in Jeddah as saying.
He said only some sections of the department would work on Thursdays to provide services such as the issuing and renewal of ID cards and family cards. “The move aims to avoid loss of work when government officials go out to settle personal matters on workdays,” the source said.
Evening counters
The department has opened evening counters to ease crowding at the office because of the large number of visitors during vacations. “The evening counters have been greatly helpful to citizens who cannot get their work done in regular hours,” said an official.
Huge crowds were seen at the Civil Affairs office in Jeddah during the weeklong school vacation. Since only a limited number of applications are processed each day, people queue up in front of the office as early as 5 a.m.
Umar Al-Qarshi, a government employee, said because of the large number of people visiting the office, he had to go there three days in a row to get his work done.
Nasir Al-Shahri, a student, stressed the need for opening more counters with more officials to speed up work, particularly at sections issuing ID cards and family cards. “I spent a good part of my vacation to get my ID card renewed,” said Al-Shahri.
