Contest highlights water’s importance

Winners of a Saudi photographic competition titled “Miyahuna Hayatuna” (Our water our life) were honored at a recent ceremony organized by BMG Foundation.“It was a significant initiative of our company because it aimed to increase public awareness on the rational use of water and preserving it for coming generations,” said Basil Al-Ghalayini, chairman of BMG Foundation. He disclosed plans to hold a photographic competition targeting Saudi and GCC university students to design innovative awareness campaigns in order to encourage prudent public use of water. He said BMG Community Service would tour the capitals of Gulf Cooperation Council states to interact directly with university students and provide detailed information about the competition. “We’ll hold two important events to honor winners of this competition locally and internationally during the 16th Gulf polo tournament with the presence of Queen Elizabeth. We’ll also hold a ceremony for selected classical music named Amwaj,” he said. Ahmed Al-Shugairi, a prominent social figure, emphasized the need to conserve water. “Most people do not know the importance of water and they use it lavishly without thinking about the future,” he said, adding that future conflicts would be about water not oil. Al-Shugairi called for stringent regulations to prevent people from wasting water. “We have to educate people through the media on the importance of water,” he added. Social media can play a vital role in this awareness campaign.The ceremony, held in Jeddah Hilton on Monday, also included a charitable auction where Saudi photographers sold their works. Half of the auction’s revenue goes to charitable works. Lulwa Al-Sudairy, coordinator of BMG, said the competition had begun about a month ago in order to enlighten the public on the careful use of water. Water was the main theme of the submissions. “We have received about 400 photographs and selected the 30 best photos and published them in a book form to distribute among participants,” she said.