King Abdullah leads by example

Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah has introduced various techniques to save water and electricity at his home, according to Riyadh Gov. Prince Turki bin Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz.
Prince Turki made the disclosure recently during a meeting in Riyadh with officials from the Ministry of Water and Electricity, the Ministry of Transport, the National Water Company and the Saudi Electricity Company (SEC).
Prince Turki urged residents and citizens to do the same because it would help eventually reduce costs.
He said the private and public sectors have water and energy saving plans in place for the summer. The various government ministries and agencies have also been preparing to tackle any emergency that might occur during this period.
Prince Turki said the governorate last year increased water supply to the region from various sources. He said contractors are responsible for delaying some projects, but have claimed it is because they want to meet the country's quality standards.
He urged citizens and residents to change their lifestyles to save more water and electricity in their homes. He said the government has launched various awareness campaigns to educate the public on the issue because the Kingdom is one of the highest consumers of energy in the Middle East.
Mansour Al-Qahtani, a representative of SEC, said the company was waiting for the government to decide whether to close big mosques during the week and have worshippers only pray in smaller ones to save electricity.
A ministry of Transport representative said that an investigation is under way to determine the cause of delayed projects in the capital.