Obaid, Minister of Education, is next in line to appear before the Shoura Council to explain the working of his ministry, Dr. Muhammed Al-Zulfa, a Shoura member said here on Monday. The minister will reply to questions from Shoura members as well as citizens before the end of the current session, Al-Zulfa said. The appearance of ministers and officials before the Shoura, he said, is a healthy development since the issues that are raised in the Shoura are of interest to all citizens. “Questioning will not be limited to ministers alone. Heads of agencies and directors of administrations will also be summoned,” the Shoura member said. He said the session with Abdullah Al-Hussayyen, Minister of Water and Electricity, went very well and the minister showed great understanding to the questions raised by members. He said Al-Hussayen's replies were very good and would have a positive impact if implemented in earnest. He said the minister promised that the water crisis in Jeddah, Makkah and Taif would be solved in the next two years with the completion of the third phase of the Shoiba desalination plant. Al-Zulfa said the minister also promised that his ministry would put an end to water crisis in Asir by 2010 and that regarding the sanitary sewage problem in various towns in the Kingdom, the minister cited problems with contractors. He added that Al-Hussayyen criticized the previous agricultural strategy of wheat farming pointing out that this had drained a large amount of the Kingdom's water resources. The minister also criticized the irrational and lavish consumption of water by citizens which is ten times greater than the consumption of water by Europeans. He said the minister defended the current electricity tariff describing it as much cheaper than that of the telecommunications companies. Nevertheless, Al-Hussayyen promised that the ministry would look into this matter in the future, Al
