Welfare projects totalling SR9 billion ($2.39 billion) are being launched in Madinah.

They include the expansion of the Prophet’s Mosque, building a university campus, and the construction of hospitals. The SR4.7 billion expansion of the Prophet’s Mosque eastern courtyard includes the setting up of 182 large umbrellas to provide shade around the building, creating additional prayer area for 270,000 worshippers.
The Taiba University campus project includes the establishment of a 400-bed university hospital and five colleges for dentistry, pharmacology, applied sciences, computer engineering, and science.
The king will formally inaugurate the SR447 million, 500-bed maternity and children’s hospital – the largest in Madinah – and the new headquarters of the Madinah Governorate.
He will also lay the foundation stone for the 200-bed National Guard Hospital.
The new National Guard Hospital in Madinah will have specialty clinics for internal medicine, heart diseases, pediatrics, maternity, ophthalmology and dentistry.
In a related development, a number of Saudi businessmen have called for the expansion of the airport in Madinah in line with the city’s position as the second largest gateway for pilgrims after Jeddah.