Mafraq, Dec. 23 (Petra) - Minister of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs Mohammad Khalaileh on Tuesday handed over a housing project for underprivileged families, funded by the Zakat Fund, in the Al-Mkeifta area of the Northern Badia District.

Khalaileh said the project comprises 10 housing units at a cost estimated at JD350,000, and is the second project implemented by the Zakat Fund after the Muadh bin Jabal Village project in the Northern Jordan Valley. The project comes in implementation of directives of His Majesty King Abdullah II to care for poor and needy families, provide them with a dignified life, and secure suitable housing.

He explained that each housing unit has an area of 85 square meters, built on a land plot of 400 square meters, noting that the units were distributed to beneficiaries according to fair criteria and foundations consistent with Zakat Fund instructions.

Khalaileh handed over usufruct certificates to the families benefiting from the project and honored a number of supporters of the Zakat Fund programs and the housing project in Al-Mkeifta. He expressed his thanks to Umm Al-Qittain and Al-Mkeifta Municipality and to all those who contributed to completing the project, which embodies the values of mercy, solidarity and social cohesion long upheld in the blessed homeland under Hashemite leadership.

Head of the Umm Al-Qittain and Al-Mkeifta Municipal Committee Taleb Al-Hammad said the project is built on a 12-dunum plot donated by the municipality to the Zakat Fund, reflecting the spirit of cooperation and responsibility and the meanings of mercy and giving.

Director of the Awqaf Directorate for the Northeastern Badia Khalaf Al-Masaeid said the Ministry of Awqaf’s efforts in implementing housing projects for underprivileged families through the Zakat Fund help alleviate the suffering of such families in finding suitable shelter, given their inability to build homes.

The ceremony was attended by Mafraq Governor Firas Abu Al-Ghanam, Secretary General of the Ministry of Social Development Barq Dmour, Northern Badia District Administrator Fawaz Khreisha, Director General of the Zakat Fund Abed Smeirat, Director of the Hajj and Umrah Department Majdi Btoush, Director General of the Hajj Fund Fuad Al-Kouri, and Director General of the Awqaf Funds Development Department Yousef Qudah.

The Awqaf minister also inspected in the towns of Khasha’ and Al-Husseiniya in the Umm Al-Qittain district a multipurpose hall project established by the ministry on waqf land, which will soon be available for community events. The building consists of two floors, a parking area and a guard room, in addition to external works including fences, pavements, courtyards, a collection pit, a water tank and a rooftop machinery room. The project is built on a land plot of 1,807 square meters.

//Petra// AF