JEDDAH, 5 December 2004 — The mayor of Jeddah yesterday announced long-awaited commitments to the deteriorating local marine environment in a landmark introductory speech at a seminar on the conservation and sustainable development of the Red Sea. “Within a few weeks, Jeddah will stop pumping raw sewage into the Red Sea for ever,” said Mayor Abdullah Al-Muallimi to the guests at the seminar hosted by the Saudi German Business Group.
Officially opening the two-day seminar, Muallimi set out his view of the city’s approach to the future care of the Red Sea and local environment, commenting that the interconnectedness of the environment of the ecosystem means that whatever happened in one part of the world affected others.
“It is irresponsible,” he said, ”for anyone to claim that they have a sole right to the environment. We have a responsibility and duty to preserve and protect the environment to enable us to pass it on to future generations if not better than we found it, then at least not worse.” He said Jeddah had seen its share of damage, but whatever its previous experience, or development “it can no longer be tolerated or justified.”
He also announced the end of raw sewage dumping in the huge 15 million cubic meter lake to the east of Briman. “Today and forward, the inland lake will cease to receive raw sewage, which will instead be pumped to sewage treatment plants,” he said, signaling the imminent end of the convoys of sewage tankers clogging the city’s streets.
Turning his attention to another less obvious but major source of pollution in the city, the mayor said that efforts to substantially reduce pollution from the desalination plants in Jeddah have got under way. “A project to remove the sulfur and other pollutants from the emissions will be complete in about two years, and bring the contents of effluents well within international standards.”
