The Director-General of "MODON", guest of the Asharqia Chamber talking about supporting the industrial sector in the face of the Corona pandemic
Asharqia Chamber hosted the Director-General of the Saudi Commission for Industrial Estates and Technology Zones "MODON", Eng. Khaled bin Mohammed Al Salem, in a virtual meeting organized to highlight the precautionary measures and initiatives to support the industrial sector in the face of the emerging Corona pandemic.
Eng. Al Salem stressed that the file of labor housing in the industrial cities will witness development and organization during the coming period, where the Supreme Committee for Labor Housing is working on a daily basis to find appropriate solutions to organize this matter and develop requirements, indicating that "MODON" has issued during the recent years a guide for building labor housing and has been It is applied to residential complexes for which it has allocated sites in the second industrial city in Dammam, while residential complex sites are being allocated in the third industrial city in Dammam.
He added that “MODON” recently launched an initiative to temporarily housing workers inside the factory according to a set of preventive and health requirements and controls, and it continues to provide it until the end of the new Coronavirus crisis, and with its end, there will be a two-month deadline for factories to remove temporary housing, noting that “MODON” participated in the “Bridging” team to link factories that have redundant labor to factories that have a shortage of labor.
Al-Salem recommended that industrialists must adhere to obtain operating licenses from “MODON” so that they can benefit from initiatives and incentives that help them overcome the Corona pandemic, including reducing the annual rent by 25% until the end of the year 2020, while postponing the payment of financial fees for a period of three months (90 days). In addition to the exemption from fees for engineering plans approval and contract amendment fees until the end of 2020.
The period of building the factories has been extended to 36 months instead of 24 months, and the extension of the operating licenses until the end of the current year 2020, as the number of beneficiaries of these initiatives and incentives has reached nearly 1,800 beneficiaries so far.
He pointed out that more than 400 security men undertake the follow-up of the application of precautionary measures around the clock in the industrial cities, with the implementation of more than 900 inspection rounds in 22 industrial cities in which 70 observers participated, adding that "MODON" addressed its partners through all available media and technical means to adhere to the preventive measures And health practices, curfews, and adherence to factory entry and exit controls.
He said: According to the Royal Decree, the return of the activity has been linked to the continued commitment to the instructions, procedures and preventive measures imposed by the competent authorities, and we are looking for the clarifications of the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development with any directive to cancel the previous precautionary decision to reduce the percentage of workers in administrative offices.
And regarding the suspension of work in the main offices of the factories, Al-Salem continued that the supreme order stipulated that general contracting companies and factories are allowed to operate, but the resumption of work in the main offices needs clarification by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development while following up on the commitment of government directives on this, in addition to implementing inspection and oversight tours To follow up and initiate the violations and submit them to the competent authorities to punish the violators, which may reach the closure of the violating establishments, in order to protect the workers and their families
The Director-General of "MODON" reported regarding the second industrial city in Dammam that the generalization of the partners was implemented by applying additional health precautionary measures to isolate the city, and preventing entry and exit from it from Sunday, May 3 until further notice, with the exception of freight and freight operations, while the circular included the operation of vital factories. A third of its capacity, and allowing the entry of managers, engineers, and workers in it, without leaving them during the embargo.
He explained that to ensure the continuation of production operations during the period of preventing entry and exit from the industrial city, the necessary arrangements must be completed before 3 pm, starting from Sunday, May 3 in addition to the speed of transport of the administrative and operational staff necessary for the continuation of production operations, while allowing them to reside in residential facilities Existing within the industrial city, or applying on the "MODON" website to obtain approval to live inside the factories while adhering to the required conditions.
He went on to say that “MODON” also initiated the coordination and implementation of visits to the pharmaceutical and food factories and access to their availability, and the implementation of 180 visits to vital factories, the closure of the recreational area and public places, and also the coordination and implementation of visits to factories with high labor intensity and to see their readiness and report to the Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources, coordination With the government committee formed to visit the workers 'residence, in addition to ensuring the cleanliness and sterilization of the administrative building from outside and inside, the cleanliness and sterilization of the sidewalks in the commercial complexes, the residential area and Lake "MODON", and the cleanliness and sterilization of the workers' housing "three times" Daily ", in addition to requiring the contractor workers preventive inputs" masks and gloves "and measuring the temperature of the workers on a daily basis, and the implementation " spraying Insecticides "and cleaning and sterilizing containers in the industrial city.
Al-Salem stressed that “MODON” continues to support female entrepreneurs and women entrepreneurs through the agreements signed with the Aramco Center for Entrepreneurship Ltd. “Waed” and the initiative of “SABIC” National Company “Nassand” to provide the pillars of developing small and medium enterprises and enhance local content.
He concluded by noting with interest the Saudi Vision 2030 to achieve food and drug security, noting that “MODON” as one of the main bodies to achieve the goals of the vision, it hosts 6 industrial cities in the eastern sector that have more than 100 food factories and 19 medical factories among a product under construction, of which more than 55 A food factory and 8 medical factories in the second industrial city in Dammam, and the rate of growth of pharmaceutical activity in industrial contracts reached nearly 70% during the year 2019 compared to the year 2018.
The Director-General of “MODON” concluded, noting that the distribution of industries within the industrial cities is taken into consideration during the design stages of the general plan for each city. It extends for more than 30 years, and for each stage, the areas required for development are determined according to needs, the volume of demand, and growth expectations. At each time stage, the general plan and distribution of industries are also reviewed in order to keep pace with market changes.
For this part, the board member of the Asharqia Chamber, the Chairman of the Industry and Energy Committee, Ibrahim bin Mohammed al-sheik, valued the interaction of cities with the Chamber’s initiatives, stressing its leadership role in supporting industrialists and its contribution to providing a distinctive practical environment and educating the business sector to help them overcome crises, especially in what the industrial sector now faces from the effects of the Corona pandemic.
