Abdulrahman Al-Ali Saudi Gazette JEDDAH — Prince Khaled Al-Faisal, Emir of Makkah, announced projects worth SR1.05 billion in the Rabigh governorate during an inspection tour on Wednesday. Chairing a meeting of the local council, Prince Khaled pointed out that the council's presentation did not include damage caused by the devastating rain and floods that hit the area recently. He said the council's deliberations did not cover measures taken to protect Wadi Thamaya from future flooding and save lives. He also noticed the absence of the Corniche project from the meeting's agenda. Prince Khaled issued directives to the officials of the government sectors who attended the local council meeting on the necessity to find speedy solutions to prevent the recurrence of floods in Wadi Thamaya. He instructed officials to brief him on any measures taken in this regard. Prince Khaled issued directives to the Jeddah municipality to complete fund allocations and immediately begin carrying out the planned district project on Rabigh Corniche. He also directed the municipality to discuss the environmental implications of industrial cities. The Emir announced that development projects in Rabigh are worth SR1.050 billion. He said the stalled projects are only a few. During his tour of the governorate, Prince Khaled inaugurated several government projects, including the Rabigh municipality headquarters, and police and Civil Defense buildings. Prince Khaled described the discussions at the local council meeting as fruitful. “What has been discussed confirms that the ceiling of citizens' hopes has risen,” he said, adding that this indicates that development in the governorate was going ahead at a steady pace. The Emir said, “All are working together to upgrade the pace of development and meet the aspirations of the people of the region and the country's leadership.” Prince Khaled said development projects in the region are forging ahead according to plans. He said the progress Rabigh is witnessing reflects the efforts being exerted to achieve development. He added, “Today we are celebrating the graduation of 1,400 students from King Abdulaziz University's branch in Rabigh. This is one of the goals we are striving to achieve. Higher education has reached the governorates of the region and started bearing fruit.” Prince Khaled attended the graduation of the first batch of the university's branch. He congratulated the students and handed them certificates. The Emir along with other participants watched a documentary on the university. The number of male and female students enrolled at the Rabigh branch of the university has reached 15,000. A plot of land reaching six million square meters has been allocated for constructing the university campus. New buildings are being constructed to accommodate the increasing number of students. About SR200 million has been set aside for the construction of women's colleges and SR400 million for a university hospital.
