Article 24 of the Saudi Provinces Law

This article adds another task for the Provincial Council relating to public-benefit works:

• Proposing: the council proposes any public-benefit work for the province's citizens. The words "any work" are broad, and the article does not limit the type of such works.
• Encouraging: it encourages citizens' contribution to it.
• Submitting: it submits this to the Minister of Interior.

The council's role here is one of proposing and encouraging, and it ends with submitting the proposal to the Minister of Interior. The article does not state what the Minister does afterwards.

This article complements Article 23, which makes the council competent to study everything that would raise the level of services in the province, including identifying the province's needs and proposing their inclusion in the development plan, identifying useful projects according to priority and proposing their approval in the State's annual budget, studying master plans, and following up implementation of what concerns the province in the development plan and the budget. While Article 23 concerns government projects, Article 24 opens the door to the participation of citizens themselves.

It is followed by Article 25, which bars the council from considering any subject outside its competences set out in the Law and makes its decisions void if it does so, with the Minister of Interior issuing a decision to that effect.

Anyone who wishes to take the initiative on a public-benefit work in their province and needs to understand the legal framework can consult a lawyer specialized in administrative cases.