Industrial city planned in north

The Council of Ministers has decided to set up an industrial city in the Northern Border Province. “The 290-sq km industrial city will be called "The Mining City of the North." It will have industrial and utilities infrastructure so that it becomes attractive to investments in downstream industries,” Minister of Culture and Information Abdul Aziz Khoja said in a statement to the Saudi Press Agency after the council meeting on Monday. The meeting, chaired by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah at Yamamah Palace, allocated 150 sq km adjoining the proposed industrial city in the Um Waal area to set up projects of Maaden phosphate industries, Khoja said. The council also ordered the Public Investment Fund and the Saudi Arabian Railway (SAR) to construct a railway line to link the industrial city with the North-South Railway and provide it with wagons for the freight of phosphoric acid, sulfur and other products manufactured in the city and also a railway station for passengers in the city. The council also allocated funds to the Saudi Electricity Company to link the city with a power grid. As part of the industrial project the Saudi Ports Authority has been authorized to build three wharfs at the Ras Al-Khair Industrial Port in the Eastern Province. King Abdullah also stressed the need to complete in the best manner all development projects, adhering to relevant orders and properly utilizing budget allocations, the minister said in his statement. The council said a Saudi woman is eligible to receive housing loans from the Real Estate Development Fund if she is the responsible person for her family. The order has been issued after amending a previous council decision governing the eligibility for housing loans. The king also briefed the council of his discussions with Indian Defense Minister A.K Antony, who met the king last week. The council of ministers also welcomed the visit of the new Tunisian Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali to the Kingdom. The council lauded the UN adoption of an Arab League resolution on Syria. The council egarded the UN move as supportive to the league’s efforts to find a peaceful solution to the crisis. The council also called the international community to take steps to deal with the worsening humanitarian situation in Syria. The council also reviewed all the scholarly, scientific, economic and cultural conferences and forums that took place in the Kingdom and also the country’s participation in various events abroad last week. The council approved the appointment of three reserve members to the special appeal committee to settle disputes about security bonds. The members are Abdullah Al-Fawaz, Abdul Kareem Al-Zakary and Muhammad Al-Osaimy. The council appointed Osama Ahmad Ali ambassador and Abdullah Al-Basiri minister plenipotentiary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Abdul Rahman Al-Mufreh director general of the office of the minister of water and electricity, Abdul Rahman Al-Khozaim director general of monitoring at the Customs, Ibrahim Al-Johaiman adviser of categorization and employment at the Ministry of Civil Service, and Abdul Aziz Al-Rumi director general of customs at Prince Muhammad Airport.