MADINAH — Prince Faisal Bin Salman, the emir of the Madinah region, opened on Tuesday the first model housing project with the capacity to accommodate 3,000 foreign workers. Speaking on the occasion, Prince Faisal lauded the initiatives taken by the Saudi government under the leadership of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman with a humanitarian touch in its dealings with expatriate workers during the period of coronavirus pandemic. “We consider foreign workers as guests who contribute to our development as our true religion urges us to deal with them humanely with the best treatment. We are reassured with their health, safety, and security, and we will do everything in our capacity to achieve this until up to the time when they return to their country safely and comfortably,” he said. The emir said that the new labor housing project comes as a model for quick solutions approved by the main committee in the region, to study the housing conditions of expatriate workers and rectify the violations with regard to their housing. The move comes after the committee found during the month of Shaban last year the presence of more than 17,000 workers in overcrowded housing facilities within the Madinah neighborhoods. The committee subsequently adopted a mechanism to deal with it. Prince Faisal thanked the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs and Housing represented by the Madinah Mayoralty, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and the partners in the private sector for their efforts in implementing this project, which will be followed by a number of similar projects in a number of areas during the next phase to accommodate more workers. The housing project, which was constructed on an area covering 39,800 square meters, is the first among a number of typical projects in the region, and it is furnished with various environmental, health, and operational facilities and services. Madinah is witnessing the completion of a number of typical projects for labor housing in Al-Oyoun and Al-Hijrah neighborhoods. The mayoralty also awarded another project on an area of more than 250,000 square meters on the Hijrah Expressway, bringing the total capacity of labor housing to about 15,000 workers. Another typical housing project for 5,000 workers has been implemented under the supervision of the Royal Commission in Yanbu.