RIYADH, 25 December 2002 — Riyadh Governor Prince Salman yesterday reaffirmed the government’s determination to provide potable water to the entire population of the Kingdom.
He was addressing a seminar on the strategic challenge on water, organized jointly by the ministries of education and water at the King Abdul Aziz Historical Center here.
Prince Salman said: “Huge water projects have been commissioned despite the paucity of water resources such as rivers and lakes and scanty rainfall in most parts of the Kingdom. The government has also been cooperating with international efforts to solve the problem of water shortage, he said.
“The Kingdom adopted the principle of prudent use of water as a strategic option when the erstwhile Ministry of Agriculture and Water launched a comprehensive national campaign for the rational use and preservation of water. The media’s help was also enlisted in the campaign. “The country has set up 1,200 water projects and 28 water desalination plants on both the east and west coasts apart from sewage water treatment plants,” the prince added.
He pointed out that the formation of an independent Ministry of Water was aimed at bringing all the related departments under its umbrella to pool their resources. The ministry, he said, was currently updating all the plans and studies pertaining to water in order to draw up a national water strategy for the future.
On his part, Minister of Water Dr. Ghazi Al-Gosaibi underscored the importance of rationalizing water consumption, and said the whole mankind faced great challenges on the water front. “Thirst and water pollution endanger the lives of millions of people,” he said, and added that “water problems may lead to wars among the countries of the world.”
The seminar is being attended by a number of experts and members of the academic staff of universities. The seminar’s first session will review means to rationalize water consumption, and the role of water in the growth of civilizations as well as the causes of water crises in the world.
The second session will shed light on hydrological information and its role in the evaluation of the water situation, in addition to the role of water in the development of agriculture.
Dr. Ali Al-Takhis, undersecretary at the Water Ministry said the discussions will also focus on the risks involved in wasting water and recycling of waste water.
Those who attended the opening function included Agriculture Minister Dr. Abdullah Muammar, Minister of Labor and Social affairs Dr. Ali Al-Namlah.
