JEDDAH, 13 June 2006 — Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah arrived in Ahsa yesterday as part of his current tour of the Eastern Province and laid the foundation stone for a number of educational and training projects in the region, the Saudi Press Agency reported.
More than 12,000 people attended a grand reception accorded for the king. Crown Prince Sultan, Prince Abdul Rahman, deputy defense and aviation minister, Prince Miteb, minister of municipal and rural affairs, and Interior Minister Prince Naif were present at the ceremony.
This is Abdullah’s first visit to the Eastern Province after accession to the throne in August last year.
Ali Al-Ghafees, governor of the General Organization for Technical Education and Vocational Training (GOTEVOT), said the new projects launched by the king included four technical colleges in Ahsa, Al-Khafji, Qatif and Hafr Al-Batin, 17 vocational training institutes for boys, and two higher technical institutes for girls.
He said new vocational training institutes would be established in Hafr Al-Batin, Ahsa, Dammam, Qatif, Abqaiq, Al-Khafji, Naeeriya, Jubail and Hofuf while the two higher technical institutes would be built in Hafr Al-Batin and Qatif. He estimated the total cost of the projects at nearly SR1.2 billion.
Al-Ghafees said the king would launch a number of GOTEVOT projects worth SR2 billion in Hail and Qassim when he visits the two regions as part of his current tour. These include eight technical colleges, 23 vocational training institutes and seven higher technical institutes for girls, he added.
The king is scheduled to visit the northern region of Hail today. Apart from technical and vocational training institutes, he will launch a number of other development projects, including a comprehensive water project, the Hail-Madinah road and Hail University.
King Abdullah arrived in Ahsa from the industrial township of Jubail where he inaugurated the first phase of Jubail-II that is designed to provide an expansion facility for the industrialization of the city for the next 25 to 30 years.
He also launched 20 new projects worth SR82 billion belonging to the Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu, the Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) and various other private companies.
According to Prince Saud ibn Abdullah, chairman of the Royal Commission, plans are under way to establish an industrial university constituting the existing industrial and technical colleges and institutes.
He also said that work on a giant desalination plant in Jubail would start shortly. The dual-purpose Independent Water and Power Plant would cost SR11 billion.
King Abdullah will also visit Madinah this month. Madinah Governor Prince Abdul Aziz ibn Majed said the king would inaugurate a number of development projects in the region. They include the expansion of the eastern courtyard of the Prophet’s Mosque, the construction of sunshades in courtyards around the mosque, the National Guard Hospital, the new headquarters of the governorate, a maternity and children’s hospital, a medical city, Al-Rashid mega mall and a number of other private sector projects.
