KUWAIT: EPA Board Chairman Sheikh Abdullah Ahmad Al- Humoud Al-Sabah (center) distributes the plants. — KUNA

KUWAIT: Two main Kuwaiti authorities have joined hands giving momentum to efforts to turn empty spots green with leafy plants and blossoming flowers throughout the country of largely arid land. In its latest activity to turn as many parts as possible of the landscape green, Kuwait Public Environment Authority (EPA), said in a statement on Friday that up to 10,000 saplings were distributed for planting in Al-Nuwaiseeb, Kuwait's southernmost region, stretching along the southern shores of the Gulf country. The plants were given to citizens, campers and volunteers, enthusiastic about such activities to safeguard and improve the environment of Kuwait, indicated Sheikh Abdullah Ahmad Al-Humoud Al-Sabah, EPA Board Chairman.

He also indicated that the activity is part of a nationwide campaign to promote peoples' awareness of the necessity to safeguard the Kuwaiti wild life and environment. Greening side-streets and public parks and location helps in purifying the air, he said, noting the top leaders' special concern for greening Kuwait. EPA is distributing large numbers of samplings in coordination with the Public Authority for Applied Education and Training (PAAET), whose general director, Haytham Al-Athari, said that up to 100,00 saplings had been planted in the first (4-month-long) phase of the campaign. The current second stage is designed to plant 250,000 ones.

PAAET's services department is cooperating with the "green dream" team, which comprises volunteers who have been leading the multi-phased greening campaign. The authority had granted 20,000 saplings to Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Popular Heritage Village. It had also distributed 10,000 ones in Kabad, some 70 kilometers from Kuwait City, and planned to distribute 10,000 more elsewhere. Moreover, it is involved in greening projects outside mosques, oil companies and on islands. Kuwait's land is largely desert however authorities and associations exert relentless efforts to keep s much of the lands green. - KUNA