King Salman inaugurates mega projects in Ras Al-Khair, Jubail

November 30, 2016

Ras Al-Khair/Jubail, Nov 30: Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman inaugurated Tuesday a group of basic infrastructure and development projects in Jubail and Ras Al-Khair industrial cities on the Gulf coast.

arab

The inauguration ceremonies were attended by Eastern Province Gov. Prince Saud bin Naif and a number of princes, ministers, government officials, private sector officials, and other dignitaries.

The king inaugurated the Sadara Chemical Company (Sadara) and the Saudi Aramco Total Refining and Petrochemical Co. (SATORP) in Jubail. The two projects are among the largest facilities in the refining and petrochemicals industries that support the objectives of Saudi Vision 2030.

The Vision aims to create new industries that will help provide new job opportunities for Saudis, as well as attract foreign investment to the Kingdom. Sadara and SATORP are aligned with these objectives and are the result of successful partnerships between Saudi Aramco and two global companies — the Dow Chemical Company and Total — which are leaders in their respective areas of business.

Minister of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources Khalid Al-Falih, who is also chairman of Saudi Aramco, said: “Sadara and SATORP represent a bold undertaking for Saudi Aramco and its respective partners, Dow Chemical and Total. It is a major driver in achieving our goals of greater integration and value addition. They represent the concrete realization of our distinct yet complementary corporate visions — it is one way in which Saudi Aramco is helping to deliver on its abiding commitment to the Kingdom.”

The Sadara project is the largest integrated chemicals complex in the world to be built in one phase. It is a joint venture between Saudi Aramco and The Dow Chemical Company in Jubail Industrial City. The first phase commenced operations in 2015, and the remaining operating units are scheduled for completion by the end of 2016. The production capacity is more than 3 million tons of various plastics and chemical products annually.

The king also laid the cornerstone of the King Salman International Complex for Maritime Industries & Services, near Jubail, which was named in his honor during the groundbreaking ceremony. The complex is a commercial maritime project that complements the growth of the Saudi energy industry and helps to meet the development, localization and diversification objectives outlined by Saudi Vision 2030.

The development of the complex will start with a maritime yard as an anchor project to be completed in 2021. It will be managed and maintained by Saudi Aramco’s proposed joint venture with The National Shipping Company of Saudi Arabia (Bahri), Hyundai Heavy Industries Co, and Lamprell PLC. The facility will offer quality, efficiency and economies of scale, and when completed it will offer vessel and rig build, maintenance, repair and overhaul services. The project will comply with all of the Saudi government’s environmental and sustainability requirements.

At Ras Al-Khair, Al-Falih gave a speech in which he expressed his pleasure at the king's presence on the occasion of the inauguration of the development projects. The projects, he said, would put Ras Al-Khair on the map as a key contributor to an integrated and productive economy as one of the Kingdom's developmental successes and a source of pride.

“Like your father, King Abdulaziz (may he rest in peace), who was the Kingdom’s founder, and who had the vision and insight to launch the Saudi oil industry immediately after the country's unification, you today are inaugurating a comprehensive group of projects for the mineral resources sector in Ras Al-Khair Industrial City, and in turn making it a launch pad to move toward broader development, growth and prosperity for the Kingdom and its people,” said the minister.

“What we celebrate today is a true embodiment of the keenness to diversify sources of income in the national economy and open the doors for strategic industries to operate and flourish,” he added.

“For this, we are committed, under your guidance, to ensure these projects are founded on the same solid foundations that have contributed to the success of previous strategic initiatives, namely: Conscious investment and diligent planning for the country’s resources and wealth; commitment to the highest levels and international standards of planning and implementation; keenness to establish strategic partnerships with relevant international institutions; cautious increase of local content in these projects; serious and consistent investment in national human resources through training, rehabilitation and employment generation.”

“The government has sought to support the development of the mineral resources sector as per new and exceptional competitive outputs, and with large investments exceeding SR130 billion allocated to developing the establishment of basic infrastructure, including trains, water and power plants, ports, networks of gas and sulfur, phosphate and aluminum factories linked to mines founded by Maaden, the Saudi Arabian Mining Company. Maaden today is classified among the 10 largest mining companies in the world, only 9 years after it was founded,” he said.

The minister also thanked all involved parties for the notable success, saying, “I take this opportunity to extend my thanks to all our partners, particularly the Saudi Railway company for its outstanding efforts regarding the North South Railway Line Project, which has a length of 3,000 km. It can help Maaden Phosphate and Maaden Aluminum deliver phosphate and bauxite ore from mines in the north and center of the Kingdom to manufacturing areas in the cities of Ras Al-Khair.”

The development and mining infrastructure projects in Ras Al-Khair include the railway project, the mining train, the Ras Al-Khair water desalination and power plant, Ras Al-Khair port, Maaden phosphate mine in Jalamid in the Northern Border Region, Al-Ba’itha bauxite mine in Qassim, Maaden phosphate complex in Ras Al-Khair, and Maaden Aluminum complex also at Ras Al-Khair.

They also include basic infrastructure projects carried out by the Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu, which is the management and operation body in Ras Al-Khair.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
March 26,2024

gazastrike.jpg

There is no let-up in the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip despite a UN Security Council resolution demanding an “immediate ceasefire.”

Israel carried out air raids and artillery strikes on several parts of Gaza on Tuesday, hitting residential buildings and gatherings of displaced people, “killing and wounding hundreds of people”, the Palestinian Information Center said.

Among the victims are 15 people, including four women and children, who were killed in an attack on a house in the neighborhood of Mosbeh, north of Rafah.

Media reports also said that fighting on the ground continued unabated.

That’s while the UN Security Council on Monday adopted a resolution for an “immediate ceasefire” for the ongoing Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

The resolution was put forward by the 10 non-permanent members of the UN Security Council. The US abstained and the 14 other council members all voted in favor of it.

After the vote, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres wrote on social media platform X that failing to implement the resolution “would be unforgivable.”

Palestinian resistance movements have welcomed the resolution, but Israel’s minister for military affairs Yoav Gallant said Israel will not stop its attacks in Gaza. 

“We will operate against Hamas everywhere – including in places where we have not yet been,” Gallant said.

Israel’s foreign minister, Israel Katz, also said in a post on X that the attacks will continue until all the captives taken by Hamas during its October 7 blitz are released.

Israel unleashed its war on Gaza on October 7 after the Palestinian Hamas resistance group carried out Operation Al-Aqsa Storm against the usurping entity in retaliation for its intensified atrocities against the Palestinian people.

Since the start of the offensive, the Tel Aviv regime has killed more than 32,300 Palestinians and injured over 74,000 others.

The Tel Aviv regime has also imposed a “complete siege” on the territory, cutting off fuel, electricity, food, and water to the more than two million Palestinians living there.

Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories, said Israel has committed acts of genocide in Gaza.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
March 14,2024

bengaluru.jpg

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) says at least five people, including a staff member, were killed and 22 others wounded after Israeli forces targeted a food distribution centre in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip.

UNRWA Commissioner General Philippe Lazzarini in a statement on Wednesday said that the strike hit one of the very few remaining UNRWA distribution centers in the eastern part of Rafah.

“Today’s attack on one of the very few remaining UNRWA distribution centers in the Gaza Strip comes as food supplies are running out, hunger is widespread and, in some areas, turning into famine,” Lazzarini said.

“Every day, we share the coordinates of all our facilities across the Gaza Strip with parties to the conflict," he continued.

He said the attack was carried out even though "the Israeli Army received the coordinates including of this facility yesterday."

Lazzarini further urged the protection of the UN, its staff, and its premises and called for an independent investigation.

Israel acknowledged an airstrike on a food aid distribution center in southern Gaza, which it claimed targeted and killed a high-ranking member of Hamas. 

Meanwhile, the statement by the UNRWA head added that since October 7, at least 165 team members have been killed while in the line of duty and more than 400 people sheltering in UN buildings also lost their lives due to Israel's attacks.

More than 150 of the agency’s facilities, including schools and shelters, have been hit in the war, with some destroyed, and UNRWA staff have reportedly been mistreated and humiliated while in Israeli detention centers, according to the UNRWA.

Six aid seekers killed in Israeli attack

Separately, the health ministry in the Gaza Strip said six people were killed in the latest attack on Palestinians waiting for humanitarian aid at the Kuwait Roundabout in Gaza City.

The Wafa news agency said some 83 people who were wounded in the attack have been transferred to the al-Shifa Medical Complex in the city.

Over the past weeks, Israeli forces have increased their offensives on the Kuwait Roundabout, an area where large groups gather to wait for aid deliveries.

Israeli forces killed 11 people waiting for food aid at the roundabout on Monday night.

The Israeli military has restricted the delivery of humanitarian supplies to northern Gaza for weeks, and thousands of children are going without sufficient food and medication.

The prevention of aid convoys comes as humanitarian officials have already issued a dire warning, stating that unless a ceasefire is implemented and aid is significantly increased, the toll of malnutrition and disease is expected to rise, leading to an alarming loss of lives.

So far, the Tel Aviv regime has killed at least 31,272 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injured 73,024 others.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
March 21,2024

gazagirl.jpg

Israeli military siege, hunger, and diseases will soon become the main killer in Gaza, says commissioner- general of the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA).

Philippe Lazzarini, who heads the UNRWA for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, took to X on Wednesday to vent his concern for the growing hunger and spread of diseases as a result of the Israeli siege on the besieged strip.

He said starvation and illness may soon be the main killer in Gaza.

"This fabricated and catastrophic level of hunger can still be reversed by flooding Gaza with food and life-saving assistance," Lazzarini said.

"More than ever humanity requires political will,” the UNRWA chief added.

In a press release on March 19, UNRWA said that “famine is imminent in the Gaza Strip, especially for isolated populations in northern Gaza deprived of humanitarian aid.”

The statement noted that the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), in a latest food security outlook, concluded that up to 1.1 million people in Gaza are facing catastrophic levels of food insecurity.

“Nutrition screenings conducted in February by UNICEF and UNRWA show that rates of acute malnutrition among children in northern Gaza and Rafah have nearly doubled since January,” it said.

The Israeli regime has accused UNRWA staff of being involved in the October 7 attack by the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas against the occupied territories, prompting a number of its western allies to suspend funding for the UN agency.

On Wednesday, an agreement was reached by US congressional leaders and the White House on a massive funding bill will continue a ban on US funding for UNRWA until March 2025, Reuters reported.

Earlier this year the US, Canada, Australia, Britain, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Finland, Estonia, Japan, Austria and Romania  decided to cut their funding to the UNRWA, considered a lifeline for the Palestinians in Gaza.

France had also announced that it does not plan a new payment to fund UNRWA in the first quarter of 2024.

Condemning the suspension of funding, Lazzarini had said, “It would be immensely irresponsible to sanction an agency and an entire community…, especially at a time of war, displacement and political crises in the region.”

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.