RIYADH, 22 January — In its bid to cut the growing number of accidents in the Kingdom, the Council of Ministers yesterday decided to install advanced systems for monitoring traffic violations by specialized companies.
The Cabinet meeting, chaired by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd, also decided to charge the headquarters of charitable societies for the memorization of the Holy Qur’an, and their associate schools, only the lower agriculture rate for electricity.
Considering the recommendations of the Islamic affairs minister, the Cabinet will now treat the charitable societies for Qur’an memorization and their schools in the same way that they treat all charitable societies licensed by the Labor and Social Affairs Ministry.
The Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Endowments, Propagation and Guidance will allocate part of its revenues from endowments to meet the expenses of Qur’an memorization societies.
The Cabinet itself decided to increase government assistance in cash and kind for these societies.
Acting Information Minister Dr. Madani Allaqi said the Cabinet meeting licensed the Saudi Ceramics Company to use raw clay from a three square-kilometer area, 18 km south of Dharma Marrat Road in the Riyadh region.
In light of a previous decision allowing sales of state-owned land allocated for certain government agencies, the Cabinet gave permission to the Health Ministry to sell, rent or invest part of their health facilities and use the revenue for development purposes.
Earlier, King Fahd briefed the ministers on the outcome of his talks with Hamid Karzai, leader of the interim Afghan government, in Riyadh.
The talks focused on strengthening cooperation between the two Islamic states.
King Fahd reiterated Saudi Arabia’s support for Afghanistan to reinforce security and stability in the war-shattered country.
During the Cabinet meeting, King Fahd urged the ministers to carry out the various development and welfare projects in light of the national budget which was announced recently.
In another development, King Fahd ordered the distribution of 310,460 copies of the Holy Qur’an and its translation in various languages to a number of institutions both inside and outside Saudi Arabia.
The beneficiaries of the royal gesture include the Arab and Islamic Institute in Tokyo, the Islamic Cultural Center in Australia, the Salafi University in Faisalabad, Pakistan, and the World Islamic Council for Dawa and Relief in Egypt.
