Prince Sultan views a miniature of one of the development projects in Madinah. (AN photo by Yousif Muhammad)

MADINAH, 24 October 2005 — Crown Prince Sultan laid the cornerstone of the higher technical institute for girls in Madinah on Saturday. He also opened new facilities at the College of Technology and the Armed Forces Hospital in the city.

Dr. Ali Al-Ghafees, governor of the General Organization for Technical Education and Vocational Training (GOTEVOT), said the new girls’ institute covering an area of 120,000 square meters, will cost SR84 million.

He also said that the government had allocated SR9 billion for opening new technical colleges and training institutes and expanding existing institutions in various parts of the country. He said the new facilities at the College of Technology included 27 classrooms, 38 workshops, 45 labs and a library in addition to administrative offices, a mosque and support services.

The college, which will accommodate 3,000 students, offers courses in administrative technology, computer science, electrical sciences and electronics.

Earlier, Prince Sultan watched a documentary on GOTEVOT and its projects in Madinah and other parts of the country.

Ahmed ibn Al-Shubl, director of the media center at the Council of Technical Education and Vocational Training in Madinah, said GOTEVOT had implemented projects worth nearly SR650 million in the region. He said the new institute for girls would accommodate 1,200 students.

The 50-bed Armed Forces Hospital, equipped with advanced medical facilities, was established at a cost of SR50 million. The two-story hospital has clinics for maternity, childcare, internal medicine, ENT, ophthalmology and kidney diseases. Brig. Abdullah Al-Fayez, director of the hospital, thanked Prince Sultan for opening the hospital, which is the first military hospital in the region. He said the hospital would improve the city’s medical services.

Prince Sultan is expected to chair a meeting of the board of trustees of the Sultan Charitable Foundation at his residence in Makkah’s Azizia district on Tuesday.

Dr. Majed Al-Qasabi, secretary-general of the foundation, said the meeting would discuss the charity’s projects for 2006 and review the foundation’s achievements for the past 11 years in the areas of humanitarian and medical services, educational projects, technological education and charitable housing.