JEDDAH, 28 November 2003 — Prince Sultan, second deputy premier and minister of defense and aviation, yesterday announced government plans to bolster the powers of regional councils and allocate separate budgets for them. Prince Sultan called the planned partial municipal elections a “practical step” which would support regional governors and councils as well as the people in all regions.
“By conducting elections, the state intends to strengthen the position of hardworking and educated Saudis who know their country well,” the Saudi Press Agency quoted Prince Sultan as saying in Tabuk.
Addressing the Tabuk Regional Council, he also indicated that contestants in the elections would represent different sectors. “Those who follow the right path will reach the goal,” he added.
“The existing system gives wide powers to regional councils,” the prince said adding the system had yet to be fully implemented. “There will be budgets for each region to meet most of their development needs,” he added.
Prince Sultan also said a number of technical military institutes would be established in Tabuk and other regions during the next Five-Year Development Plan.
Asked about future projects of the Sultan Charitable Foundation, he said it had contributed SR10 million for the Fahd ibn Sultan Private University in Tabuk.
Prince Sultan earlier yesterday laid the foundation stone for the university project on King Khaled Road. The university will be launched with a college of computer science and information systems. Dr. Bashir Al-Ghareed, a member of both the Shoura Council and the university’s board of trustees, said studies at the college, which will be able to accommodate 1,000 students, would start next academic year.
The government has agreed to provide soft loans worth SR65 million for the construction and furnishing of the college, which is estimated to cost more than SR100 million. The defense minister commended the support of the people of Tabuk to the government’s drive to stamp out terrorism. “You will not find one in a million in the Kingdom supporting these deviant actions,” he added. He also highlighted the role of Saudi tribes in unifying the Kingdom and safeguarding its security.
Prince Sultan distributed keys and deeds to some 70 housing units — constructed under the Prince Fahd ibn Sultan Social Program — to poor Saudis. The program intends to build more than 1,000 housing units in two years.
