On behalf of Prince Abdulmajeed bin Abdulaziz, the Governor of Makkah region, Prince Abdullah bin Fahd bin Mohammed Al-Saud, the Undersecretary of Makkah Governorate for Security Affairs, attended the inaugural ceremony of the Jeddah Forum for Water and Energy, organized by Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Speaking on the occasion, Dr Ghassan Al-Suleiman, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Chamber, underlined the importance of the Forum, and said it would provide a good opportunity to exchange views on means of the ideal utilization of water sector and energy.
On his part, Minister of Water and Electricity Eng. Abdullah Al-Hussein said arrangements are underway to evaluate the water situation in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia through updating previous water studies and conducting new studies.
He pointed out that the Ministry of Water and Electricity implemented in the last decades more than 1,300 projects including major projects in the major cities, and comprehensive projects which provide tens of cities, villages and hamlets with water.
Eng. Al-Hussein pointed out that the Kingdom has 30 water desalination stations, with a productive capacity of about 3 million cubic meter per day of water, which is provided to 40 cities.
The Minister expected that the population of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia would increase to 37 million by 1446 AH, with a need for consumption of about six million cubic meters of water per day.
"So this means we will need to establish water desalination stations with the required pipes at a cost of more than SR 50 billion," he said.
Prince Abdulmajeed bin Abdulaziz, the Governor of Makkah region, in his speech, read on his behalf by Prince Abdullah bin Fahd bin Mohammed Al-Saud, highlighted the great attention given by the Saudi officials to the water projects.
He said the Saudi officials are keen on developing and expanding resources of water and electricity production throughout the country.
