BURAIDAH, 16 June 2006 — Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah will lay the foundation of various projects relating to the second phase of Qasim University today estimated to cost over SR1 billion.
The projects include buildings for the Faculty of Shariah and Religious Principles, the College of Arabic literature, the Faculty of Engineering and Computer Science, the College of Pharmacology and the College of Applied Medicine.
The king is also expected to lay the foundation stone for various other projects today that include athletic facilities, a study hall for women, research labs, and a 400-bed university hospital.
“King Abdullah has paid special attention to university-level education, which he believes to be the cornerstone for the development and progress of our nation,” Higher Education Minister Khaled Al-Anqari told the media yesterday. “Universities educate the youth so that they can devote themselves to the service of their religion, nation and the society. This also reaffirms the king’s desire to ensure infrastructure for higher education.”
King Abdullah arrived in Qasim yesterday afternoon from Hail on the sixth leg of his current tour of the Kingdom. The king launched his tour in the Eastern Province on June 11. He has already visited Hail, Ahsa, Qatif, Alkhobar and Jubail.
The king has been meeting people and launching new development projects in different regions of the Kingdom.
King Abdullah also attended a lunch given in his honor by Qasim Governor Prince Faisal ibn Bandar in Buraidah. Crown Prince Sultan, deputy premier and minister of defense and aviation, was also present.
Apart from laying foundation stones for various projects, King Abdullah will attend functions organized by the people of the region at the King Abdullah Sports City. Prince Faisal ibn Bandar said all people, including women and children in the region, are very enthusiastic about Abdullah’s visit to the region, his first since becoming king in August.
Besides laying the foundation stones for the second phase of Qasim University, King Abdullah will open 88 school projects for both boys and girls and lay the foundation stones for 324 educational projects for the Ministry of Education with a total projected cost of SR1.6 billion. During the visit the king will lay the foundation stone for an ambitious residential scheme called the Suleiman ibn Abdul Aziz Al-Rajhi Residential District in Buraidah, sprawling over 600,000 square meters. The SR1.5-billion project aims at building 2,400 residential units with integrated facilities including parks, shopping malls, schools and utilities.
The king’s programs also include the laying of foundation stones for the SR522-million network of training projects for the General Organization for Technical Education and Vocational Training distributed across the province.
