Saudis install glass barriers in mosques to save power

Cairo: Saudi Arabia has embarked on installing glass barriers and partitions in mosques across the country as part of efforts to save public money and conserve electricity use, local media reported.

The project, also aimed at enhancing longevity of air conditioners and cutting maintenance costs, is underway in 589 mosques in different areas of the kingdom.

The Ministry of Islamic Affairs and Call, which is in charge of mosques in Saudi Arabia, has begun installing the barriers in the phased project including in the first group 64 mosques in Riyadh, 100 in the holy city of Makkah, 58 in the eastern Province, 30 in Tabuk, 83 in Qassim, 89 in Najran, 100 in Assir, 23 in Medina, 22 in the Northern Borders region and 20 others in Al Jouf region. The cost is estimated at over SR44 million, according to Al Riyadh newspaper.

The paper described the project as an “important step” to cut the power bills, the value of which nears SR1 billion annually.

The project comes in the run-up to the Muslim holy month of Ramadan marked by intense worshipping.

The Ministry of Islamic Affairs uncovered thefts of electricity and water supplies from a mosque in Riyadh to installations in the vicinity, local media reported in January.

The ministry’s Mosque Utilities Protection Department had registered illegal supply taken from the mosque by connecting wires from its electricity metre to neighbouring warehouses, the Saudi official news agency SPA said.

Authorities had also found that the mosque’s water supply had also been encroached on by illegally installing a water pipe from the place of worship and connecting it to a neighbouring resthouse.

In other cases, unlawful electricity supplies from another mosque in Riyadh to nearby stores were also uncovered, the agency added.

Link to pics posted by Saudi news portal Akhbaar24: https://akhbaar24.argaam.com/article/detail/639445