RIYADH, 24 January 2007 — Minister of Water and Electricity Abdullah Al-Hussayen said yesterday that new housing projects would not be permitted without water-conservation measures in place.

“This is part of a collaborative effort with the Saudi Arabian Standards Organization ... that every new home is built with water-saving kits,” he said without outlining how the measure would be enforced or regulated.

Al-Hussayen also said that his ministry was studying the increase of water tariffs to encourage people to conserve water. “God willing the tariff will be increased,” he stressed.

He did not mention how much the increase would be, but said it would not be a burden for the citizens.

The ministry has completed two nationwide campaigns in three years distributing hundreds of thousands of water-conservation kits.

The minister pointed out that the campaigns helped reduce water consumption by 30 percent. He said the third nationwide campaign for saving water would target washing machines in households.

Al-Hussayen said a large quantitiy of water was being wasted on a daily basis due to leakages in underground pipes. “We lose 20 percent of water from desalination plants before it reached households,” he said. “That is about 1 million cubic feet of water a day.”

Al-Hussayen said the Cabinet had allocated SR200 million to address the leakage problem. He also said that as part of the ministry’s efforts last year, city contractors must now adhere to certain specifications when installing underground water mains.

“Contractors who do not adhere to these standards will not be awarded contracts in future,” he said, adding that these specifications have been sent to all branches of the ministry as well as to the municipalities.

The ministry yesterday received an appreciation letter from the United Nations University (UNU International Network on Water, Environment & Health) for its successful water conservation campaign.

Director of UNU-INWEH Zafar Adeel arrived in Riyadh yesterday to congratulate the minister. He said that many dry land countries would benefit from the Kingdom’s experience.

Japanese Deal

The ministry has signed a technical cooperation agreement with Japan as part of efforts to find a solution to the depleting water resources. The agreement was inked by Kenji Nagata, adviser at the Tokyo-based Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), on Monday. The JICA will represent Japan to work for MOWE within the framework of the agreement. Nagata and his team have already conducted several field surveys in the study area, especially in Asir and Najran regions.