On Tuesday, Prince Faisal Bin Salman, the Madinah Gov., opened the first model housing project with the capacity to accommodate 3,000 foreign workers in Madinah. Once all the projects are completed, 40 percent of the workers’ housing problems will be resolved.
In April 2020, the Municipality of Madinah in western Saudi Arabia announced three pilot schemes to overcome the issue of overcrowding in the quarters accommodating workers from abroad. The initiatives have become even more important in the wake of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak.
During the occasion, Prince Faisal said: “We consider foreign workers as guests who contribute to our development as our true religion urges us to deal with them humanely with the best treatment. We are reassured with their health, safety, and security, and we will do everything in our capacity to achieve this until up to the time when they return to their country safely and comfortably,” he said.
Additionally, Prince Faisal thanked the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs and Housing represented by the Madinah Mayoralty, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and the partners in the private sector for their efforts in implementing this project, which will be followed by a number of similar projects in a number of areas during the next phase to accommodate more workers.
The project consists of 976 housing units that can accommodate 3,000 workers, a two-story mosque for 900 worshippers, in addition to state-of-the-art buildings that will be used as canteens, supermarkets and gyms.
There will also be medical clinics and public service buildings with specialized security monitoring systems.
Madinah is witnessing the completion of a number of typical projects for labor housing in Al-Oyoun and Al-Hijrah neighborhoods. According to reports, the mayoralty also awarded another project on an area of more than 250,000 square meters on the Hijrah Expressway, bringing the total capacity of labor housing to about 15,000 workers. Another typical housing project for 5,000 workers has been implemented under the supervision of the Royal Commission in Yanbu.
Recently, Madinah was acknowledged as among the world’s healthiest cities by the World Health Organization (WHO). The city is believed to be the first city with a population of more than 2 million to be recognized under the organization’s healthy cities programme.
