JEDDAH: The Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI) has begun administering financial aid to its employees who were affected by last November’s flooding disaster.
“This initiative was introduced by the chamber in an attempt to alleviate the impact of the disaster on low-income employees,” JCCI Chairman Sheikh Saleh Kamel said.
He said the gesture would strengthen the spirit of solidarity between the chamber and its employees regardless of their positions “because humanitarian and welfare work is above divisions and educational and vocational differences.”
The JCCI is reportedly the first nongovernmental organization to provide financial assistance for victim of the floods. Secretary-general of the chamber, Mustapha Sabri, said at least 15 employees received checks on Monday.
The amount of money workers received was calculated according to the extent of damage to their properties.
A committee from the chamber had assessed the damage incurred by each employee.
Sabri denied that any financial assistance had been drawn from the Social Takafful (solidarity) and Welfare Fund initiated by the chamber during its previous tenure.
Chamber staff contribute on a monthly or yearly basis to the fund, which in turn provides them with financial support in times of need.
Sabri called on the private sector to follow the chamber’s lead and extend financial assistance to employees who were victims of the floods. He said the Committee of Social Takafful and Welfare Deeds had joined other welfare organizations in extending assistance to flood victims.
Meanwhile, the JCCI signed an agreement on Sunday with a local administrative and economic consultancy to train 1,000 private sector employees on social responsibility.
