DOHA: Qatar Red Crescent Society (QRCS) has announced that it will build 200 housing units for widows in Harem city of Syria. The city is in the Idlib Governorate and located near the Syrian-Turkish borders.
Fund is being provided by Alfardan Group in form of a donation.
Some 1,600 people of 200 families who have lost their breadwinners and have been living in nearby makeshift camps will benefit from the project. The ‘Alfardan Charitable Town’ will be built under the ‘Honourable Life’ development project launched by QRCS to provide adequate housing units for Syrian families.
Each house will be developed over an area of 60sqm and will comprise two bedrooms, a reception area, a kitchen and a bathroom. The project also includes complete infrastructure like water supply, a surface water well and tank, sewage network, roads, land-levelling, and gardens.
Facilities for necessary services will also be built, including the establishment of a school, bakery, health care centre, workshop for widows, market, two mosques, a solid waste removal system, and solar energy panels to ensure social and environmental well-being of the residents. The project will also bear the operation costs of the school for one year. ‘Alfardan Charitable Town’ will be built on a 7.5-hectare land allocated by the municipality of Harem.
It is near many camps for internally displaced people (IDPs) and roads and away from areas witnessing clashes. The area is also rich in clay soil. There will be thousands of indirect beneficiaries from increased trade and economic activities and IDPs at the camps, who will have more access to health and other humanitarian services. QRCS has already built 100 houses in Afes on the outskirts of Idlib and handed them over to the beneficiaries under its housing scheme. It has positively impacted the community by greatly improving the lives of the beneficiaries. Unlike emergency shelter tents, clay houses are safe and can protect families against heat in the summer and cold in the winter.
QRCS plans to build 2,000 clay houses across Aleppo and Idlib countryside this year. The project aims to shift the beneficiaries from emergency shelters to permanent homes, said Saleh bin Ali Al Mohannadi, Secretary-General, QRCS.
The Peninsula
