JEDDAH, 9 October 2004 — More than 300 housing units established by the Higher Women’s Committee for Social and Humanitarian Services will be given away to the poor on the first day of Ramadan, Princess Sarah bint Abdul Mohsen Al-Anqari, chairperson of the committee, announced yesterday.
The committee has established 256 housing units in Tufail village and 50 units in Rabigh, she said, adding that the houses would be furnished before presenting them to poor families free of cost. The charity intends to establish 44 more housing units in Tufail and 50 in Rabigh.
Princess Sarah commended Makkah Governor Prince Abdul Majeed and businesswomen and men for their generous support to the committee’s charitable projects. “We have spent SR127 million in less than four years on social, medical, housing and other projects,” she pointed out.
She described the housing project as a cultural and developmental achievement. The project includes a mosque, two schools for boys and girls, a health center, a vocational training center and a school for Qur’an recitation and memorization. It has been provided with water, electricity and roads.
“A presentation of the charitable housing projects will be made at the fifth annual exhibition for family requirements organized by the committee,” the princess said. Prince Abdul Majeed will open the show on Oct. 20 at Jeddah International Exhibition Center. A charity souk run by the Women’s Charitable Society will be held at the exhibition, which is to continue until the end of Ramadan.
Spelling out the committee’s achievements, Princess Sarah said it had established the 85-bed King Abdul Aziz Kidney Center in Taif at a cost of SR20 million. The center started working last year. “We have also provided financial assistance worth SR13 million to public hospitals in the region to help them acquire modern medical equipment,” she said.
The committee purchased two buildings at a cost of SR2.5 million to provide accommodation to several poor families in Makkah. It has given a total of SR17 million to five charitable women’s societies including the Disabled Children’s Association, and extended financial assistance worth SR2.5 million to many deserving families.
Princess Sarah estimated the value of new charitable projects planned by the committee at SR60 million. They include a 100-bed recovery hospital in Jeddah to take care of patients suffering from chronic diseases and the elderly. The Health Ministry will provide it with the necessary equipment, she said. A first-aid center along the Jeddah-Makkah Expressway and new housing units in Tufail and Rabigh are other projects. The princess commended the readiness shown by the well-to-do people in the country to help the less fortunate in society. “I particularly thank the business community for their valuable contributions to our charitable projects,” she said.
