RIYADH, 24 November 2002 — Prince Alwaleed ibn Talal yesterday offered to build 10,000 houses for the Kingdom’s poor in response to a call from Crown Prince Abdullah, deputy premier and commander of the National Guard, for measures to combat poverty.

Prince Alwaleed, chairman of Kingdom Holding Company, will finance the construction of 1,000 houses every year in the coming decade, with a first lot to be built early next year, the company said in a press statement.

Prince Alwaleed directed the charity division at KHC to take immediate measures for coordinating with all the concerned authorities to lay down the basic groundwork for the project.

In a letter to Prince Abdullah, Prince Alwaleed announced his contribution and stressed his commitment that he would be the first to respond to the leadership’s call and strive for the amelioration of the citizens’ living conditions by building homes for the poor as soon as possible.

Prince Alwaleed stated that Prince Abdullah’s inspection last week of impoverished neighborhoods had revived the old tradition established by the Caliphs, to assume responsibility for the welfare of everyone in the community.

“It is obvious that our country is in good shape when its devoted leaders strive to ascertain, first hand, the citizens’ individual needs by going door to door to judge the tempo of life in the community. Such empathy is in line with the Prophet’s (Peace be upon him) teaching: ‘one that does not attend to the needs of Muslims is an outcast’.”

Prince Alwaleed said that even though “our country is faring well and the standard of living for many is reasonable we nevertheless recognize, as you have, that there are a number of unfortunate individuals who are living below the poverty line.

“As you have stated, acknowledging a problem is the first step toward rectifying it. You have identified the malady, and if those in the government do not attend to it, it will worsen.”

After visiting the poor neighborhoods, prince Abdullah had ordered the creation of a government working group to study the poverty problem and devise a national strategy to tackle it. He urged Saudis to contribute to financing programs that would be launched to help the poor, and appealed to the public and private sectors to create jobs.

Labor and Social Affairs Minister Dr. Ali Al-Namlah said the working committee will identity the people living under the poverty line and estimate the fund required to support them.

Al-Namlah said the panel will include experts from government departments, the private sector and charitable organizations.

He said the strategy would include provision of more jobs for poor Saudis in the private sector and financing of small-scale industries. “We’ll work out a highly realistic strategy, which can be implemented with the support of available material resources,” the minister told Arab News.

Higher authorities have instructed Al-Namlah to make use of the expertise of Saudi universities, research centers and other organizations to make viable proposals to combat poverty.

“The problem of poverty could be solved by increasing allocations for social support services and charitable organizations,” he said.