YHOC & JHOC 

Year after year, Yemen Hunt Oil Company (YHOC) and Jannah Hunt Oil Company (JHOC) continue to honor their distinguished employees. It had become a tradition of its kind. The importance the two companies give to their employees seems to have paid off big in the efficiency and quality of their work. Last week, YHOC & JHOC held their 6th annual award luncheon on the occasion of the 1st of May, International Labor’s Day. 

On Monday, April 26, 1999,  Yemen Hunt Oil Company (YHOC) and Jannah Hunt Oil Company (JHOC) held an Outstanding Achievement Awards Luncheon at the Sheraton Hotel in conjunction with the Yemen Labor Day Holiday. Among the attendees were the Deputy Minister of Oil and Mineral resources, Dr. Rasheed Baraba’a, the Deputy Minister of Labor and Vocational Training, Mr. Abdo Al-Janadi, Mr. Bill Lewis, Vice President and General Manager of YHOC, and Mr. Alex Demitrienko, the General Manager of JHOC. Dr. Abdulaziz Al-Saqqaf, Chief Editor of Yemen Times and member of the Consultative Council, Brigadier Ali Hassan Al-Shater, Chief Editor of 26 September, a number of department managers from both companies, and a large number of officials from the Ministries of Oil and Labor were among the guests. 

During this luncheon, YHOC and JHOC recognized 34 employees who demonstrated outstanding performance and achievement during the past year. 

This special recognition program honored employees in three different categories, Outstanding Achievement Award, Special Outstanding Achievement Award, and General Manager’s Award. All three awards were open to all YHOC/JHOC Yemeni employees. Employees were nominated for the Outstanding Achievement Award by their respective department managers and selected by the General MAnager and an Award Committee. 
Employees were selected for this award based on the following performance considerations: 

- Contribution to the overall success of YHOC/JHOC 
- Leadership ability 
- Initiative/Creativity 
- Dependability/Reliability 

A total of 31 Outstanding Achievement Awards were presented, with each recipient receiving a cash  bonus and a certificate recognizing her/his selection. 

Recipients of the 1999 Outstanding Achievement Awards are: 

Accounting Department: 
Ali Daifallah Ali Al-Sanabani 
 Mariam Moh’d Mubarak Medi 

Administration/Personnel Department: 
AbdulWahhab  Abdullah  Al-Shaqdari 
Abdulla Moh’d Abdullah Al-Azani 

Communications Department: 
 Mukhtar Anwar Moh’d Haider 

Drilling Department: 
 Abdo Ahmed Hassan Ali 
 Abdulawi Ghanim Moh’d Mughalis 

Legal Department: 
 Aynie Ahmed Qaid Al-Hubaishi 

Marine Terminal Department: 
 Mohamed AbdulHaq AbdulMana’a 
 Faisal Thabet Abdulla Awada’a 

Pipeline Department: 
 AbdulHakim Ali Ahmed Wash 
 Salim Ahmed Saleh Al-Gerwi 
 AbdulMalik Sharaf Al-Kholani 

Production Operations Department: 
 Jamal Mohsin Ali Al-Akwa’a 
 Anwar AbdulWahab Al-Maktari 
 Mohsin Abdulla Ali Al-Jadari 
 Ali Saleh Hassan Al-Beidani 
 Walid Ahmed Moh’d Al-Batheji 
 Hussein Saleh Moh’d Al-Majnai 
 SaudSaleh Abdulla Al-Surihi 
 Ahmed Awad Omar Shamak 
 Ali Saeed Ali Al-Shabwani 
 Kamal Moh’d Al-Aghbari 

Reservoir Department: 
 Ali Abdulla Muthana Al-Badaji 

Purchasing Department: 
  AbdulKarim Kanaf Tarboush 

Training Department: 
  Tareq Mansoor Abdulla Noman 

Jannah Hunt Oil Company: 
  Mustafa Moh’d Sallam Al-Alawi 
  Saleh Abdullah Moh’d Ali Obad 
  Ali Nasser Ali Zaid 
  Amira Musaed Fadhel Samar 

In addition to the Outstanding Achievement Award recipients, two other employees were chosen by YHOC’s Vice President and General Manager, Bill Lewis, to receive Special Achievement Awards. 

These employees are: 
 Moneer Ahmed Al-Dahan, 
 Administration Manager 
 Mana Abdullah Nasser, Drilling Manager 
On the other hand one employee was chosen by YHOC’s Vice President and General manager, Bill Lewis, to receive the General Manager’s special Recognition Award. This Award was given to recognize the employees with best exemplifies the performance criteria mentioned above. Its recipient was given a special certificate and cash award recognizing his selection. 

Recipient of the 1999 General manager Special Recognition Award is: 
 Engineer\ Khalid Ali Ahmed Al-Khader     COMMUNICATION MANAGER 

YHOC and JHOC are very pleased to recognize these exemplary employees for their outstanding performance and contribution to the success of the company. 
 

One of the cornerstones of any company, government office, school, or whatever organization you can name is its communication lines. It is, in fact, its lifeline. In most organizations, this is done through the switchboard. 

In a survey of 38 organizations carried out during April 1999 in Sanaa, we found that 94.8% of the switchboard operators were women. Thus, this is a job dominated by females. 
"The reason is that women are generally more patient," says Intissar Al-Ammari, operator at Adhban Company. Tayyibah Al-Khayyat of the Yemen Bank for Reconstruction & Development. She also thinks the reason is that 'women are more courteous'. 

Haifa Abdul-Jaleel of Al-Huraibi Hospital believes it is because of the soft voice of women. Ikram Abdul-Wali of the International Bank of Yemen feels women can save awkward situations by taking the blame. When the boss forgets to answer a call, it is because the operator forget to tell him. Khadijah Tayghoor of Interwood Company believes women can put up with a lot more than men. 
That is why it has become a female-dominated job. 

Telephone operators can never aspire to be rich. This is a low-paying job. 
The lowest salary for a telephone operator was earned by Fathiyah Al-Mahfadi at Yemen Gas Company. She earns YR 7000 per month, and the highest in the sample went to Hana Ali Ahmed of Trust Insurance and Re-Insurance Company at YR 30,000 a month. By far, the majority carry home around YR 13,000 a month. 
But the salary depends on many factors, length of service, ability, and efficiency. 
Most switchboards are an enclosure, which one can call a room tucked away somewhere in the building, often on the ground floor near the main entrance. The lighting is often dim, and the room is small and comfortable. 

The job has many problems. 
First and foremost, there is no directory that the operators can refer to in their work. That is why they have to create their own directories. To meet this problem, telephone operators have established a network of friendships among themselves which they tap for getting numbers they do not know. But the main trick in doing the job is to memorize as many numbers as possible, especially those that are needed frequently. 
"I know by heart over 600 numbers," says Hanan Ahmed of the Yemen Commercial Bank. The majority of operators remember between 150-200 numbers off the top of their heads. Wafa Ad-Duwais of Al-Watani Bank says she has successfully used 118, the communications telephone directory. But many of her colleagues said they were not as successful in using 118. 

One of the most difficult aspects of this job is the pressure that comes with it. "When the boss wants someone immediately, my heart starts beating faster than normal. If I have the number, the job is easier. If I don't, I start a number-hunt. Sometimes, you are not lucky, the number is busy or it is out of order, or has been changed. The pressure I endure until I put my boss through is enormous," said an experienced operator. 

Another one has a different set of problems. Najat Salim of Yemeni Company for Group Land Transport says, "Some people call for fun. They hold the line, and they flirt. It is my job to handle them in a way that does not hurt my company's image. It takes a lot of skill, and a lot of sweet-talking."Indeed, nearly 79% of the telephone operators surveyed complained against idle talk by people who make random calls. 

How has technology affected this field? Most switchboards are a simple telephone set with multiple lines. Some companies like Universal Group of Companies have computer sets to help in storing numbers. But the telephone set itself has yet to be connected to the computer to place a call. Other companies have automatic answering machines for those who know the extension number of the person they want to reach. 
"Technology cannot replace us," the operators agree. 

Ahlam Al-Khawlany, 
Yemen Times 

Introduction 
Since administrative corruption has invaded all sectors of the Yemeni state, it has become difficult to deal with these sectors unless one is an influential person. Corrupt behavior involves innovative illegitimate and unlawful vehicles like bribery, nepotism, and favoritism - the so-called wasta in Arabic, in the business of government. These vehicles facilitate the accomplishment of certain bureaucratic tasks for a certain people. Often, these tasks are illegal or by-pass the rights of others. Not all people can get such facilities, as they are limited either to those who pay, or to those who have influence or power. 

In our area of the Hadrahmaut, we are not used to such practices. It takes us a long time to adjust to unfamiliar and illegal behavior. The inhabitants of my district have skeptical attitudes towards crooked behavior, even if it is presented as useful to them. 
This is what happened recently as the people of Mukalla could not play along in procurement arrangements. For example, up to now there are no computer or even fax machines in government offices that would have served the people and save time and reduce bureaucratic measures. In the same way, any procurement takes a long time - maybe double the time it takes in other districts. 

A long time ago, if you had any paperwork to complete in any administration, one faced a highly bureaucratic system which demanded that you fill up all sorts of information. But today, our government administration is in the formative stages of an epidemic of "administrative corruption". Work is in full swing to install the requirements of this set-up that serves only the people in charge. 
There are additional requirements to get the job done. Flattery, hypocrisy and other twisted mouth-service is fast becoming our religion. It is also clear that the top people in charge of the country do not control the lower bureaucrats. 
Here I will give examples of the problems we have to put up with. 

Disadvantages of Favoritism 
The features of favoritism that are biased towards a few people and against many people. This implies a prejudice against the majority and in favor of a minority. Absolutely, the judgment of majority is always correct. Moreover, as you know the purpose of it is to upgrade and prefer the favorite person to get the priority and privilege in the intended direction. Unfortunately, some of our people in charge want to help their relatives and influential persons but they have gotten adverse reactions. In this state our folklore proverb attested "He wanted to kiss her, but he lost her eye." In this respect I have two short episodes about this stupid partiality. 

In the hospital 
The waiting-room was crowded with patients waiting their turn to meet the doctor. Suddenly, an influential man came, and he said "Oh! It is impossible to wait among these people," just made a gesture to the doctor, the doctor informed the receptionist to permit to him to come in. The doctor stood up, I don't know whether it was because of his position or for his filled-pocket. Then he explained his malady to the doctor and wanted to get a fast and effective cure. The doctor wrote a prescription with many pills and dosages. The ordinary man stayed on the bench waiting his turn and got a simple prescription written quickly. Who is the profitable one, the ordinary or the influential? Of course the ordinary. The mixed and stuffed prescription has an effect on the influential man. Both the doctor and his friend forgot the ability of Allah. 

In the Education Office 
The people in charge of it, especially in our district, don't appreciate the circumstances whatever the conditions. Each year they change and substitute the teachers in every school. Not all the teachers are liable to these alterations. Since I was employed as a teacher my annual substitution was in a remote village and the influential ones remain in the same school of their towns. This year, I went to my school. The boys are few in each class and my proportion of periods are few as well. My influential peer in the nearby school is bothered by the over-crowded classes and over-load of periods. Adding insult to the injury, he is responsible for some of the activities within the school. 

Conclusion 
We are looking forward to a program of administrative reform to cover all the districts of our governorates of Yemen and to reach to ours as soon as possible. I would like to have decisive devices to eradicate every corrupt member immediately. I call on the good people to pave the way for this program to perform its mission in its entire form. We don't want . . . 
* Our public interest violated on the account of the private interest 
* To quote an Egyptian proverb; "If you have a pound, you equal a pound, have not, you are dud. We want to hear "the right man in the right place." 
* To carry a filled envelop to a greases palm. We want justified and hard circumstances to be under consideration 
* To disfigure the picture of Yemen we want to gain more testimonies of world organizations. 

Mohammed Ali Basaif 
Hadrahmaut