Makkah: The decree granting SR500 million for mosque renovation across the country has been welcomed by Sheikh Bakr Mir of the Islamic Affairs Ministry in Makkah, who said that 600 mosques and 13 Dawa centers in the region stand to benefit. “The renovations required differ from place to place,” he said. “Some mosques need painting while others need repairs to toilet facilities and annexes.” He said the 13 Dawa and Guidance Centers were currently operating out of rented properties. “The allocation ordered by the King will allow the ministry to build its own centers,” he said. Ahmad Al-Ghamdi, head of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice (the Hai'a) in Makkah, meanwhile, said the Royal Order in which the organization was granted SR200 million for the completion of regional head offices, was a “source of pride for everyone in the Hai'a” and a “strong incentive to carry out our message”. Al-Ghamdi told Okaz/Saudi Gazette that the order would mean a “qualitative step forward in the performance of the branches of the Hai'a”. “The Makkah Region suffers more than many in terms of having to use rented property and being subject to rising prices,” he said. “It's something we have suffered from for years.” He said the order would also serve some 1,000 employees at Hai'a offices in the Makkah Region. Holy Qur'an Memorization Associations, meanwhile, which were granted in the orders SR300 million, said that the move further confirmed the role of the Kingdom in the “service of the Book of Allah”.
