The Estefan Group will begin planting trees in Qurais in the Eastern Province from Jan. 15.
Commissioned by a government agency, the project will be headed by the Saudi scientist and inventor, Ibrahim Al-Alalim.
The project seeks to help reduce the effects of global warming in the area, while also creating a good working environment that has a strong “green” component for its staff and their well-being.
“The planting of different kinds of trees will last for one month, and will involve 21 workers from the Estefan Group, including six from the area,” Al-Alalim said.
Each of the trees will be nurtured with 100 liters of water every two weeks, and will be maintained for two years. By the time the plant watering stops, the rains will have come. “We’ve also set up a mechanism to ensure that the trees will continue to get the water they need with the use of a pure absorbent polymer that I invented,” Al-Alalim said. The polymer will store water about 600 times its own weight in water in order to properly nurture the trees.
He said that all preparations had been made, with two bulldozers having finished preparing the tree-planting area which lies more than 200 kilometers east of the Saudi capital.
Al-Alalim said, “We are optimistic regarding the project. We’ve been told that if and when the project is finished, a couple of other projects could also be awarded to us.”
Tree plantation in EP to check global warming
Tree plantation in EP to check global warming
Saudi Arabia condemns remarks by US ambassador to Israel on Middle East, calls for clarification
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia has strongly condemned remarks made by the US ambassador to Israel suggesting that Israeli control over the entire Middle East would be acceptable, describing the comments as reckless and a violation of international law.
US envoy to Israel Mike Huckabee said it would be acceptable if Israel took control of the entire Middle East, including the West Bank, on Saturday.
Huckabee suggested that he would not object if Israel were to take most of the Middle East.
In a statement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it “categorically denounced” the comments, rejecting what it described as irresponsible statements that contravene international law, the United Nations Charter and established diplomatic norms.
The ministry said the remarks represented a dangerous precedent, particularly as they came from a US official, and amounted to a disregard for relations between the US and countries across the region.
It warned that such positions carry grave consequences and threaten global peace and security by inciting hostility toward the peoples and states of the Middle East, while undermining the foundations of the international order based on respect for sovereignty and internationally recognised borders.
Saudi Arabia called on the US State Department to clarify its position on the remarks, stressing that the proposal was rejected by peace-loving nations around the world.
The Kingdom reaffirmed its firm opposition to any actions or statements that infringe on the sovereignty, borders or territorial integrity of states, reiterating that a just and comprehensive peace can only be achieved by ending the occupation and implementing a two-state solution.
That solution, the statement said, must include the establishment of an independent Palestinian state along the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital.
