JEDDAH, 18 June — Private colleges in the Kingdom will receive soft loans from the government as well as plots of land at nominal rates, according to a decision taken by the Council of Ministers yesterday.
The Cabinet meeting, chaired by Prince Abdullah, the regent, urged the Ministry of Higher Education to come with new ideas to encourage the private sector to establish private colleges in various parts of the country.
“Public land under the Municipal and Rural Affairs Ministry and other ministries and agencies will be given at nominal rates to establish private colleges,” the Saudi Press Agency said quoting the Cabinet decision.
The agency said public land will be leased on the basis of an agreement between the college and the government department with the lease period depending on the college’s license.
Prince Abdullah briefed the ministers on the outcome of his talks with Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf and Sudan’s President Omar Bashir.
Prince Abdullah said he had discussed with Musharraf the tension between Pakistan and India and the global efforts to settle the dispute before it escalates into a destructive war between the two nuclear powers.
The regent said the Kingdom favored a peaceful solution to conflict, based on dialogue and mutual understanding between the two countries, without flexing their military muscle.
“The victims of a military confrontation will be the peoples of the two countries,” the regent warned the two belligerents and expressed his happiness over the de-escalation of tension.
The Cabinet meeting also congratulated Hamid Karzai on being elected as president of Afghanistan and wished him every success in his efforts to reinforce peace, security and stability in the war-ravaged country.
Referring to the Middle East situation, the Cabinet again called for an independent Palestine state with Jerusalem as its capital and for an end to the killing of Palestinians and destruction of their properties at the hands of Israeli forces.
The Cabinet meeting endorsed the alterations made in the bylaw for shops that cause discomfort to public and harm public health and environment.
As per the changes, nobody will be allowed to open such shops except after receiving license from the authorities, specifying their activities as well as working conditions and areas.
The Cabinet appointed Hamid ibn Muhammad Al-Ghamdi as financial adviser at the Ministry of Finance and National Economy and Dr. Ahmad ibn Hamad Al-Hamoud as minister plenipotentiary at the Foreign Ministry.
