ALOR STAR: The Ar Rahman Mosque expansion project received a boost today when Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak agreed to provide more than RM800,000 as additional allocation for the mosque.
Najib, who is in Kedah as part of a two-day official visit, relayed the good news to the mosque's committee members after dropping by to check on the progress of the work during his walkabout programme at Alor Merah this morning.
Earlier, Najib and wife Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor had breakfast with the local community at the Alor Merah Food Court located opposite of the mosque.
Also present were Kedah Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Ahmad Bashah Md Hanipah, mosque committee chairman Ahmad Ali and his deputy Datuk Abdul Halim Hassan.
Abdul Halim, when met, said the mosque received RM3.5 million in allocation from the state government for the expansion work and needed another RM820,000 to complete the project.
“The additional allocation will be used to build infrastructure and amenities for tahfiz students, the cemetery and also to build the mosque's perimeter fencing.
“The project is almost 80 percent completed and the expansion will allow the mosque to accommodate 800 people at one time,” he said.
He said the mosque construction project started in 2014 and is scheduled to be completed in March this year.