The Eastern Province Passport Department is preparing for the summer rush across the King Fahd Causeway by providing backup computers for workers, employing more women, and using the camera system to check on the performance of employees, an official said here on Tuesday.

Lt. Col. Mua’ala Al-Otaibi, spokesperson for the Passport Department, said the computers would be a backup if there are any malfunctions or a shutdown of the main computers in the various cabins.

The department also stated that it would employ more female workers. Some have already undergone training to join the other women who have to verify the identity of women commuters.

There are eight private cabins for females on the causeway that serve 16 lanes leading to and from the Kingdom and Bahrain.

Al-Otaibi said that Maj. Gen. Suleiman Al-Yahya, the director general of the passport department, recently visited the causeway and ordered officials to deal speedily with commuters’ travel procedures.

Al-Otaibi said special identity cards would be given to various causeway and passport officials to access the camera system to check on arrivals and departures in real time.

“This will be a temporary situation until the causeway completes the installation of cameras inside the cabins. However, the performance of employees is being monitored through the statistics of each individual.”

Al-Otaibi said that the passport department on the causeway has a plan in place to deal with travelers at all ports of entry.

“The plan includes several parts, most notably reducing vacation time for passport employees, a backup force to support shifts during rush hours, and increasing staff at all ports when needed.” He said that all ports have female employees to verify the identity of female travelers.

Al-Otaibi said that the Eastern Province passport department is ready to deal with an expected influx of millions of travelers, especially from neighboring Gulf countries, for the summer vacation, Umrah season, Ramadan and Eid Al-Fitr.