Jeddah residents are complaining about the shortage of cooking gas for the third day in a row as outlets in the city have halted supplies.

A source said that the National Gas Company has laid off a number of its employees in a bid to streamline the company, which has led to the delays in the supply and delivery of the cooking fuel to the residents. Trucks have also been forced to wait for long periods of time at distribution points, they said.

Decline in production and a shortage of gas cylinders is also affecting the distribution process while the packing and filling departments are no longer fully operational due to being understaffed, the source said. “A staffing problem exists across all branches of the company with more than 30 employees having been laid off at the Jeddah branch alone,” he said.

According to the source, the main problem is the changes in the organizational structure of the company initiated by the director of administration. He said that many Saudi employees were fired while others left of their own accord, adding that there were no alternative plans in place to address the current crisis in the short term. However, efforts are being made to resolve the staffing problem, he said.

He also said that the structural changes have left some branches without managers causing chaos and confusion.

A number of citizens expressed their dissatisfaction with the gas situation, noting that access to gas cylinders has become increasingly difficult.

Abdulrahman Abdul Malik, the owner of a gas distribution shop, said distribution points currently lack sufficient numbers of staff to carry out the distribution efficiently.

He said the problem is not in the gas production process, but is due to the delivery of gas quantities to authorized distributors, who in turn deliver to stores within neighborhoods.

The branch of the Ministry of Commerce dealing with gas

supply is yet to respond to the situation.