News | Saudi Arabia donates 200 tons of dates to Sri Lanka

site.designer | Latest News | July 26, 2012

Saudi Arabia donated 200 metric tons of dates to Sri Lanka to be distributed among mosques in the country during the holy month of Ramadan.

Abdul Hameed Mohammed Fowzie, senior minister for urban affairs in Sri Lanka, told a local Saudi newspaper, from Colombo that the consignment was formally handed over by the local Saudi embassy before the holy month. An official from the Saudi embassy in Colombo said: “We have been maintaining close relations with Sri Lankan Muslims and other community members in the country.” He added this donation was a token of appreciation from the Saudi government. Fowzie said: “We are thankful to Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah and his government for continuing the annual supply of dates to Sri Lankan Muslims in all parts of the island.” He said this year Sri Lanka got 50 metric tons more than last year.

Fowzie added he had made arrangements to distribute these dates to local mosques. Around 2,000 mosques are spread throughout the country and around 8 percent of the country’s 22 million population is Muslims. The minister said the Kingdom has been helping Sri Lanka in good and bad times.

This is not the first time the Kingdom has come forward to assist the island in such projects. Following the tsunami disaster in Sri Lanka in 2004, the Kingdom immediately sent eight flights loaded with relief materials and pledged to construct houses for survivors.