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January 12, 2007 |
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PRINCE SALMAN IBN ABDUL AZIZ RECEIVES THE PRESIDENT OF ICELAND'S PARLIAMENT. THE YEMENI PRESIDENT REVIEWS WITH AL-ATTIYAH WAYS OF ENHANCING COOPERATION BETWEEN YEMEN AND THE GCC MEMBER STATES. The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah has approved the increase of water supply from Shuaiba-3 to Jeddah by 150,000 cubic meters daily to meet the growing needs of the city. Water supply from desalination plants to Jeddah will be increased from 630,000 to 1.3 million cubic meters daily within the next three years, according to Water and Electricity Minister Abdullah Al-Hussayen. Water and Electricity Minister Abdullah Al-Hussayen, who is chairman of Saline Water Conversion Corporation (SWCC), the main supplier of desalinated water in the country, said his ministry has already made allocations to establish a new plant to supply 150,000 cubic meters of water to Jeddah. The amount of water previously allocated from Shuaiba-3, which is under construction, was 400,000 cubic meters. The additional supply of 700,000 cubic meters together with the existing supply of 630,000 will bring the total to 1.33 million. The minister also disclosed plans to establish a number of strategic water storage containers in Jeddah with a capacity of 500,000 cubic meters. "We have already made allocations for this project under SWCC budget," he added. The move to pump more water to Jeddah is essential to meet the requirements of its expanding population, which is growing at the rate of 10 percent annually. Muhammad Habeeb Al-Bukhari, an expert at the Water Research Center of King Abdulaziz University in Jeddah, urged the authorities to take quick steps to prevent leakage of water from the drinking water network. He estimated the amount of water leaked from the pipelines at 35 percent of the total supply. Bukhari called for more realistic measures to put an end to the city's recurrent water problem, especially during summer. "At present there are about four million people in Jeddah. When the new supply arrives after three years the population will increase further to five million. So, the water situation will remain the same," he told Arab News. According to him, per capita water consumption in Jeddah is 250 liters per day. "We have to stop leakage of water by installing new pipelines before urging the public to conserve water," he said, adding that water leakage would not only affect buildings but also lead to the spread of diseases such as dengue fever in the city. "The ministry should take effective steps to meet the water requirements of people," he said. Bukhari emphasized the importance of establishing an underground water storage dam for Jeddah. "We have already made a proposal to set up an underground dam in Wadi Nueman, which is located between Jeddah and Makkah. "This SR100 million project will help store more than 100 million cubic meters of water," he explained. He also referred to a study for carrying out a SR20 billion water bank project designed to meet the Kingdom's water requirements for the next 21 years. Bukhari, who has participated in preparing the study on the project, said it would be carried out in the southern Tihama region that receives a lot of rainwater and has suitable locations to establish underground dams. On the other hand, Riyadh will host under the auspices of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz Al Saud on the 22 and 23 of this month, the conference on "Water Desalination in the Arab countries." The conference will focus on problems and solutions facing the desalination industry in the Arab region through exchange of experiences and will promote and strengthen research and technical cooperation between the various Arab countries. The Al Harbi Trading and Contracting Company as a co-sponsor of the conference said the conference will discuss the desalination of sea water and water systems in addition workshops will accompany the conference, as well as an exhibition which aims to publicize the latest equipment and techniques in the field of water desalination. The General Director of the company, Eng Naif Al-Harbi said in a press release, that the conference will discusses common concerns in the area of water in the Arab world especially and how to make the best use of water availability, and this requires greater coordination between those responsible, stressing the need to involve the private sector and civil society to a greater extent in this case. It is noteworthy that the water available for use in the Arab world was estimated at about 371.8 billion cubic meters, represented in river water and groundwater. This is the equivalent of about 0.5% of the available water in the world. The estimated annual water withdrawals in the Arab region, is about 71% of the quantity of water available, while this proportion is estimated at about 6.3% only at the global level. The per capita of water in the Arab world is lowest in the world, where it decreased from 3300 cubic meters in 1960 to 1250 cubic meters in 2000, and it is expected to go down to 650 cubic meters in 2025, and this is because of the increasing number of the Arab population, which exceeded 250 million Prince Salman Ibn Abdul Aziz, the Governor of Riyadh region, received the delegation of Harvard University, which comprises 40 Academicians. Speaking on the occasion, Prince Salman welcomed the guests, and underscored the importance of cultural cooperation and dialogue among the civilizations. He confirmed the keenness of Saudi Arabia on cooperation with others and establishing distinguished relations at the level of governments, organizations and nations. During the meeting Prince Salman discussed with the visiting delegation a number of issues, notably the reformatory measures taken by the government of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz at the political and economic domains, as well as the role being played by the Shoura (consultative) Council in the decision making , and the achievements attained in this respect. Prince Salman reiterated the keenness of the Kingdom on enhancing the pillars of the global security and peace. Slamming the phenomenon of terrorism, Prince Salman said it harms the entire world, and all people pay the price of extremism. He noted that Islam has nothing to do with terrorism, and said Islam is the religion of tolerance and fraternity. Prince Salman said the Saudi women have been playing an important role in the service of the society. Prince Salman noted that the Saudi government has been following the open-door policy as regards the relationship of the citizens with the rulers, and added the citizens can easily meet the officials and exchange views with them on issues of mutual interest. Prince Salman Ibn Abdul Aziz, Emir of the Riyadh region and Chairman of the Prince Salman for Charity Housing received the delegation of the project which included Dr. Abdel-Aziz Al-Ben Ahmed Mas'oud Assistant Secretary General, Eng Ibrahim Ibn Abdul Aziz Al-Hussein the Executive Director and Dr. Abdullah Ibn Mohammad Hammad who briefed Prince Salman on the latest developments and stages of the project and congratulated him on the occasion of Eid Al-Adha. Prince Salman expressed his happiness about what has been achieved. Prince Salman Ibn Abdul Aziz, the Governor of Riyadh region received Solveig Petursdottir, the President of Iceland's Parliament and her accompanying delegation. During the meeting, they discussed issues pertaining to the bilateral relations between the two countries. Prince Saud Al-Faisal, Minister of Foreign Affairs, received a delegation of Harvard University which is currently on a visit to the Kingdom. During the meeting, Prince Saud briefed the delegation on the Kingdom's vision of the Saudi-American relations, the firm stand of the Kingdom towards countering all forms of terrorism, the measures taken by the Kingdom in this field and the Kingdom's stand and policy towards regional and international issues. Later, Prince Saud Al-Faisal received Iceland's Parliament President and the accompanying delegation. During the meeting, they reviewed bilateral relations between the two countries as well as ways to strengthen and develop them. They also discussed regional and international issues of common concern. Also, Prince Saud Al-Faisal received here today Hungarian Ambassador to the Kingdom who came to bid him farewell on the occasion of the end of the Ambassador's term. The meetings were attended by Foreign Affairs Ministry senior officials. A foundation-stone-laying ceremony for the Disabled Children's Association (DCA) in the Asir region produced SR10 million in donations. While laying the charity's foundation stone, Asir Governor Prince Khaled Al-Faisal said: "Wiping the tears of children with special needs is one of the noblest humanitarian acts in the world." Prince Khaled rejected the idea of giving his name to the center while offering SR1 million to the project. He suggested the facility be named after Prince Sultan Ibn Salman, chairman of the board of directors of the DCA, who also attended the function. The Asir region has been selected for the seventh project of the association because it has the highest number of disabled children in the Kingdom. The project aims at offering treatment and rehabilitation to disabled children from infancy to age 12. It will also offer them counselling and direct educational support. On an area covering 5,000 square meters, the project is expected to be completed in less than two years at a total cost of SR11.5 million in addition to SR2.5 million for furniture and equipment. The facility will have the capacity to accommodate 150 children when completed and will have five departments. The medical department will house reception, clinics for counselling, functional disorders, speech impairment, dental diseases and social services and a medical workshop besides a specially-built swimming pool. The teaching department will house the baby unit, kindergarten, classrooms and psychiatric clinics. The children's residential unit will have an initial capacity of 24. It will also have accommodation for 16 employees of the center. Since its founding 20 years ago, the association has offered free service to disabled children in terms of treatment, education and rehabilitation in various regions in the Kingdom. The association also undertakes campaigns for spreading social awareness about disabled people in addition to conducting research on the causes and prevention of disabilities. On the other hand Prince Faisal Ibn Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz, Head of the Saudi Red Crescent confirmed that the Saudi Red Crescent participated in the Hajj season with two air ambulances and more than 2200 of its personnel. The Saudi Red Crescent Society said it responded to over 8,000 emergency calls in the holy sites. This includes 441 cases in the Haram area, 911 cases in Arafat, 3,385 in Muzdalifah and 2,123 cases in Mina. The total number of cases attended to in Madinah reached 1001. The Red Crescent air ambulance evacuated three cases while the total number of cases attended by the motorbike medical teams reached 319, of which 230 were treated on the spot and the rest transferred to hospital. The Secretary General of the Arab League Amre Moussa received the Saudi Permanent Representative to the Arab League Ahmed Abdulaziz Kattan. During the meeting, they discussed the arrangements, procedures and protocols regarding the Arab Summit to be held in Sharm Al-Sheikh, Egypt, in March 2007. Following the meeting, Kattan said Saudi Arabia suggests holding the summit in the third week of March, preceded by meetings of Arab foreign ministers, permanent representatives to Arab League and ministers of economics to draft resolutions. When a final date was fixed, the Secretary General of AL would be informed and the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz would delegate a number of official envoys to deliver invitations to Arab leaders, the Saudi ambassador said. The Secretary General of the Arab League Amre Moussa received the Saudi Ambassador to Egypt Hisham Mohyeddin Nazer. During the meeting, they discussed the arrangements, procedures and protocols regarding the Arab Summit to be held in March. Meanwhile, the Kingdom will participate in the National Conference of the American Council for International Affairs, to be held in the American capital from 1 4 February with a high-level delegation. The conference will discuss the theme "The United States and the Middle East and the coming decades." The Chairman of the National Conference of the American Council for International Affairs has sent invitation to a number of Cabinet ministers and a number of members of the Shoura Council and the public sector and the private sector. In Yemen President Ali Abdullah Saleh received in Aden the Secretary General of the Gulf Cooperation Council Abdul Rahman Bin Hamad Al-Atiyyah. During the meeting, Al-Atiyyah briefed President Saleh on the preparations underway to convoke the conference on exploring investment opportunities in Yemen scheduled for Sanaa early February 2007. The president and Al-Atiyyah also discussed a number of issues of mutual concern. The Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh and the Secretary General of the Arab Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) reviewed aspects of cooperation between Yemen and the GCC states in various domains. The GCC is made up of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman. Speaking on the occasion, Al-Atiyyah highlighted the outcome of the London donors conference, and reiterated the adherence of the GCC states to the decisions taken by the conference through extending the required support to the development programs in Yemen. Al-Atiyyah briefed President Saleh on the on-going arrangements for convening a conference for exploring investment opportunities in Yemen, due to be held in Sanaa next February. Al-Atiyyah confirmed the keenness of the GCC and Yemen on making the conference successful. On his part, President Saleh expressed appreciation for the heartfelt feelings spelt out by the GCC leaders at their recent summit held in Riyadh under the chairmanship of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz. President Saleh said that this development reflects the keenness of the GCC leaders on rehabilitation of the Yemeni economy and enabling it to integrate along with the GCC economies in a manner that realizes the desired integration and partnership. The Yemeni President welcomed the gulf investments in Yemen and said all required guarantees will be extended to them. The Secretary General of the Riyadh-based Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Abdul Rahman Bin Hamad Al-Atiyyah said he discussed with the Yemeni leadership, led by President Ali Abdullah Saleh and Prime Minister Abdul Qader Bajammal, ways of further boosting cooperation between Yemen on one hand and the GCC member states on the other. Speaking at a press conference to mark the end of his official visit to Yemen, Al-Atiyyah said he briefed the Yemeni President on the outcome of the Riyadh GCC summit held in December 2006. The GCC leaders have lauded the outcome of the London-based donor conference for Yemen during which the GCC countries commitments constituted 73 percent of the entire donors' financial commitments, Al-Atiyyah said. He announced that he agreed with the Yemeni leadership to postpone the conference on exploring investments opportunities in Yemen to April 8 -10, 2007 instead of the 10th of February to give more time for new participants to take part and room for more preparations. During its ordinary 63rd session, held under the chairmanship of its Chairman Sheikh Dr. Saleh bin Abdullah bin Homaid, the Shoura Council discussed the National Plan for Communications and Information Technology submitted by the Transport, Communications and Information Technology Committee. In a statement after the session, the Secretary General of Shoura Council Dr. Saleh bin Abdullah Al-Malik clarified that the Council discussed the general objective of the plan to convert the Saudi society into an information society. He also pointed out that the Committee's report contained a detailed explanation of the national plan as well as the current situation of communications and information technology in the Kingdom. In Dakkar Saudi Arabia and Senegal have signed an agreement and a memorandum of understanding according to which the west African country receives a Saudi loan worth SR 54.50 extended by the Saudi Development Fund (SDF) to finance a 300-bed hospital in Senegal and phase-4 of a grant extended by the kingdom of Saudi Arabia to Senegal to dig and equip 42 artisan wells benefiting 55,000 Senegalese in rural areas respectively. Yousef Bin Ibrahim Al-Bassam, Deputy Chairman of SDF and Abdoulaye Diop, minister of state at the ministry of economy and finance, signed the agreement and MOU each for his country in the Senegalese capital of Dakar. SDF has so far provided 22 loans worth $218 million to Senegal allocated to finance numerous developmental projects. Within the last three phases of the Saudi project to provide potable water for dry areas inhabitants in Senegal, Saudi Arabia has spent $18 million to dig and equip 70 wells benefiting more than 100,000 Senegalese in rural areas. |
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