MADINAH — Electricity and water services were disconnected on Monday for 230 properties prior to their expropriation and dismantling to implement the King Salman Project for the Quba Mosque Expansion in Madinah. Bandar Muhammad Nagero, director general of the Institutional Communication at the Madinah Region Development Authority (MRDA), said that the real estate properties, spreading over a total area of 550,000 square meters, would be expropriated for the first phase of the mosque expansion. The disconnection of utility services came after the timeline, given by MRDA for the property owners, to vacate their properties, ended on Sunday, Jan. 22. With the new expansion that includes developing the mosque's surroundings, the total area of the mosque will be increased by 10 times with a capacity to accommodate 66,000 worshipers. Speaking to Okaz/Saudi Gazette, Nagero said the phases of the expansion project would be divided in accordance with the general development plan being prepared for the region. "Farms and wells featuring archaeological significance will be preserved and developed in proportion to their historical status," he said. The MRDA gave a month's timeline for the owners of properties that are marked for expropriation before disconnecting water, electricity, and other utility services, prior to their demolition. The first phase of the mosque expansion included the expropriation of more than 200 real estate properties, while the authority is working within the plan to preserve and increase the number of palm trees and farms in order to integrate them with the mosque complex, in addition to preserving historical sites and linking them with the mosque. It is noteworthy that the Council of Ministers approved in July 2022 the transfer of the task of supervising the Quba Mosque to the MRDA instead of the Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Call and Guidance. Subsequently, the MRDA took over the supervision of the Quba Mosque. The authority has been working on implementing the first phase of the project in an integrated manner that includes the mosque, its surroundings, and what is historically connected to it. Under the expansion project, the current mosque with shaded courtyards on four sides around it, will be connected to independent prayer areas that are not structurally connected to the current mosque, along with providing all necessary and related services to the mosque. The efficiency of the existing mosque building will also be upgraded, with the system of accompanying services and the improvement of the road network and the surrounding infrastructure to facilitate access to the mosque. There will be radical solutions to congestion apart from enhancing the security and safety of worshipers, in addition to developing and reviving a small number of the sites and artifacts related to the Prophet (peace be upon him) within the periphery of the mosque and its courtyards. The expansion project also includes the development and renovation of 57 historical sites surrounding the mosque, covering many wells, farms, and orchards and connecting 3 prophetic paths. The Quba Mosque is the first mosque supervised by the MRDA and it is considered as the second largest mosque after the Prophet's Mosque in the Madinah region. Last Ramadan, the Crown Prince announced the expansion plan for the Quba Mosque to accommodate 66,000 worshipers, with an increase of its total area by 10 times. With the completion of the expansion project, Quba Mosque will become the third largest mosque in Saudi Arabia, in terms of capacity after the Grand Mosque in Makkah and the Prophet's Mosque in Madinah.
