Saudi builds housing units for displaced citizens in Jazan 

(MENAFN - Arab News) Saudi Arabia has announced plans to build at least 6,000 houses at a cost of SR6 billion for citizens displaced in Jazan following clashes between Saudi troops and Yemeni infiltrators late last year.

The Saudi Press Agency reported that a plan to implement a multibillion-riyal refinery project in Jazan has also been finalized with the aim of boosting the local economy.

The government would also fund the construction of basic educational and health infrastructure at five different locations in southern Jazan, an area that witnessed large-scale evacuations during the clashes.

According to Brig. Hamoud Al-Hassani of Civil Defense, thousands of Saudi families were affected by the two-month conflict, rendering a large number of them homeless.

Many of them left their homes in a hurry and found themselves living in makeshift tents and homes without their belongings and livestock.

About 5,000 families were evacuated from the border with Yemen in the midst of the fighting, Al-Hassani said.

He said new housing units built by the Saudi government would help resettle the displaced citizens.

Many small houses and public utility services in Jazan, which stretches some 300 km along the southern Red Sea coast, were damaged after Saudi forces shelled positions of infiltrators holed up in the border area.

The governments housing plan is a major project in Jazan after Jazan Economic City and Jazan Refinery projects.

A report revealed that Saudi Aramco is evaluating options to determine the capacity of the refinery and its technical details.

It is expected that the project will have a capacity of up to 400,000 barrels per day and it will be owned by private sector partners.

The report said Aramco was currently looking for firms to manage the construction of the refinery.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia has been extending support for reconstruction efforts in Yemen. The Kingdom extended a 100 million loan to fund the expansion of an electricity grid in that country. Construction will begin later this year.

Other agreements with regard to financing, loans and grants were also signed recently.


By GHAZANFAR ALI KHAN