JEDDAH, 21 November 2006 — Saudi Arabia’s prestigious land bridge project that links the country’s east with its west by railway received a big boost yesterday as the Council of Ministers offered the government’s financial support to the project and decided to provide 50 years operational rights to the consortium that wins the contract to build the 950-km railroad.
“The Cabinet approved the general principles for providing government support to the railway project that connects the Kingdom’s west with the east,” said Culture and Information Minister Iyad Madani after the Cabinet meeting chaired by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah at Al-Yamamah Palace in Riyadh. The government’s financial assistance would be in the form of a grant in order to cover part of the project cost, Madani said. “The investor will be given operational rights for 50 years in order to take long-term strategic and investment decisions,” he said, adding that an independent authority, chaired by the transport minister, would be established to supervise and organize railway services.
The Cabinet also decided to transfer the land currently owned by Saudi Railway Organization (SRO) but not required for the land bridge, to state property. Meanwhile, four consortia comprising Saudi and foreign companies have qualified to present their offers to carry out the land bridge project, the main thrust of the Kingdom’s railway expansion project. The land bridge project involves construction of 950 km of new tracks between Riyadh and Jeddah and another 115-km line between Dammam and Jubail. It will strengthen the Kingdom’s position on the regional and international transport map and change the region’s shipping patterns. It will also reduce travel time between Riyadh and Jeddah by at least five hours.
Madani said the Cabinet also took a number of political and economic decisions. It spelled out the Kingdom’s policy on Iraq and emphasized the need for establishing security in all parts of the war-torn country, activating the country’s official agencies.
The Cabinet also warned against creating any social imbalance in the country and called for the protection of the good relations among the various ethnic groups. It urged occupation forces to shoulder their responsibility of safeguarding Iraq’s borders and prevent foreign political, intelligence and security dominance on parts of Iraq.
“Permanent members of the UN Security Council and countries neighboring Iraq must also shoulder their responsibilities toward ensuring Iraq’s independence and territorial integrity,” the Saudi Press Agency said quoting the five-point Saudi policy on Iraq.
The meeting welcomed the resolution of UN General Assembly condemning Israel’s massacre of Palestinians in Beit Hanoun. “During the meeting King Abdullah repeated the Kingdom’s call for an international conference attended by relevant parties in order to end Israeli aggression and revive the Middle East peace process on the basis of Arab peace plan and UN resolutions,” Madani said.
The Cabinet reviewed the annual report of Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA) for 2005 and expressed pleasure over the Kingdom’s strong economic performance. It attributed the good results to the measures taken by the government to restructure the national economy, expand private sector participation and increase domestic and foreign investment.
Madani said the Cabinet also decided to open two accounts at the Higher Education Fund to provide monthly stipends to students of technical and vocational training institutes and colleges as well as students of health institutes and colleges.
