JEDDAH, 1 October 2006 — The poor and needy in the Makkah region require at least 16,000 housing units, according to Princess Sarah bint Abdul Mohsen Al-Anqari, wife of Makkah Governor Prince Abdul Majeed.
Princess Sarah, chairperson of the Higher Women’s Committee for Humanitarian and Social Services, said her organization has established 600 housing units for the poor at a cost of SR100 million ($26.6 million).
“This is part of our plan to build 1,000 housing units in response to a call made by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah to support the poor and provide them with decent housing,” the princess said.
She said the three-weeklong exhibition of family requirements, which was opened at Jeddah International Exhibition Center yesterday, was aimed at collecting funds for the committee’s humanitarian activities.
There will be 250 pavilions displaying various products. Companies from Pakistan, India, Iran, Yemen, Syria, Egypt and China are participating in the show, which is expected to draw more than 150,000 visitors.
“This exhibition is part of our activities to generate funds for our social and humanitarian projects,” the princess said, adding that similar exhibitions held in the past were successful. About 40 percent of the exhibition center has been allocated for foreign participants.
Spelling out achievements in the past, Princess Sarah said, “We have built 470 housing units in Tufail, Rabigh and Khulais and handed over them to deserving people.”
She described the Tufail project as a pioneering experiment in charitable housing. “At present we are building 70 housing units in Khuwar in Khulais governorate and will be handed over within two months,” she added.
The committee is carrying out another project in Mudraka in Jamoom to build 60 housing units.
“A survey conducted by the Ministry of Social Affairs showed there is a need for more than 16,000 housing units in the Makkah region,” she said.
Since its establishment, the committee has spent more than SR300 million on various charitable projects in the areas of housing, health care, social welfare and supporting orphans and the elderly.
As part of efforts to fight poverty, King Abdullah has allocated SR10 billion to construct 64,000 low-income homes in the next four years for hundreds of Saudi families who live in makeshift buildings and slums in various parts of the country.
According to Yousuf Al-Othaimeen, secretary-general of the King Abdullah Charitable Housing Foundation, the Kingdom currently needs at least one million housing units in order to provide decent housing for its poor.
Princess Sarah called upon businessmen and philanthropists to support the committee by extending their donations to help carry out its projects.
Officials at the Ministry of Social Affairs would not disclose the number of Saudi individuals and families living below the poverty line of SR1,700 ($452) per month. Some 391,000 Saudi families with 1.2 million members currently enjoy social insurance benefits.
