7,312 homes to be constructed for low-income people in Saudi
Habib Sheikh

EDDAH — The first phase of building houses for low-income citizens all over the kingdom under the National Housing Units Project, includes 7,312 homes, according to the ministry of social affairs, which has begun licensing the construction.

…According to the ministry, the number of housing units approved for construction this year is 16,000. It said priority will be given to regions with the greatest need — Jizan, Najran, the Northern Region, Al Jouf, the holy city of Makkah and the Eastern Province. Construction companies will be licensed to prepare the land for housing construction. Al Oqla explained that a team comprising 13 officials from the ministry of social affairs, governorates, and charitable societies would set the conditions for applying and determine those who are in greatest need. “The governor of each region will be responsible for choosing the areas where the housing units will be built according to the needs in the region,” he said.

…Meanwhile, the ministry of economy and planning has announced that in order to address the problem of housing shortage the country should build at least one million residential units by 2009 because the kingdom’s population is estimated to reach 35 million by 2010.

King Abdullah has taken a special interest in the plight of the Saudi poor—and there are many of them, flying in the face of the usual stereotypes of the ‘rich Saudi’. The goal of a million new units in two years’ time is pretty ambitious, though.