Qaboos announces grant towards mosque construction drive

Muscat: Oman's ruler Sultan Qaboos Bin Saeed announced on Monday the allocation of 20 million Omani riyals in funding for the construction of new mosques all around the Sultanate.

The directives will add to the swelling numbers of mosques, currently estimated at around 15,000 administered by the Awqaf Ministry alone. The grant comes on top of an earlier allocation of 15 million Omani riyals announced by Qaboos last year.

Part of the allocations will also be utilised in the maintenance of existing mosques supervised by the Awqaf Ministry, the official Oman News Agency (ONA) said.

ONA also quoted Shaikh Abdullah Bin Mohammed Al Salmi, Awqaf and Religious Affairs Minister, as stating that the royal grants are aimed at making mosques "beacons of science, platforms for spreading tolerance, and bridges for communication among Omanis".