Prince Turki bin Nassir bin Abdulaziz, the General President of Meteorology and Environment Protection and Chairman of the Executive Bureau of the Arab ministers council in charge of environment affairs said Saudi Arabia attaches great attention to world environment issues. In an inaugural address before the ministerial-level 16th conference for the member states of Montreal Protocol for Ozone Depleting Materials currently taking place in the Czech Republic's capital of Prague, Prince Turki said Saudi authorities have made great strides towards totally curbing some prohibited materials of harm to the Ozone, partially curbing another type of materials and in progress of forging new regulations to stop flooding the market with harmful materials to the Ozone, a natural layer protecting the earth. Saudi customs personnel have been trained to effectively stop this flow, he said. Prince Turki also briefed the conference on the national strategy implemented by the Kingdom to gradually get rid of the dangerous materials and replace them by safe alternatives. Even though eligible to receive international financial support from the authority concerned, Saudi Arabia has self-financed projects worth more than 200 million U.S. dollars to eliminate materials under international control in the petrochemical industries sector, he told the conference.
