JEDDAH, 5 December 2004 — A seminar held at the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce & Industry yesterday focused on the environment and its effect on the private sector. The seminar, “Toward a Better Future for the Environment,” was organized by the Presidency of Meteorology and Environment.
Dr. Sameer Ghazi, the general director of environment evaluation and rehabilitation department at PME, highlighted the procedures for evaluating industrial and developmental projects based on studies aiming at the protection of the environment.
According to existing regulations, the department will review environmental evaluation studies by various public and private bodies and thus the rules and regulations specified by the department will be binding in order to get a permit to complete a project.
Dr. Ghazi emphasized that studies would guarantee establishing projects that are environmentally safe and have a correct view of public health and natural resources.
Dr. Taha Zaatari, director of the environment measurement general directory, spoke about protecting investments and investors under the organization’s executive bylaws.
“The goal of the system is to protect the environment, develop it and prevent pollution in addition to preserving the natural resources, developing them and conserving them,” said Dr. Zaatari.
The system made environmental planning part of the comprehensive planning for continued development in the industrial, economic, construction and agricultural sectors.
“The system has opened the door for investment opportunities in the environment protection field, including getting rid of dangerous waste, consulting services, and developing methods and technology for controlling pollution and recycling,” he said.
PME is seeking to educate and prepare private companies to invest in the field of environmental protection.
The final speaker was Sulaiman Al-Zibin from the department of hazardous waste management. “According to studies, it is estimated that hazardous waste produced in Saudi Arabia amounts to 900,000 metric tons per year and most of it is produced by industrial projects. The Eastern Province produces the most hazardous waste due to the presence of oil and petrochemical industries followed by Riyadh and then the Western Province,” he said.
On the other hand, Al-Zibin pointed out that environmental effects of hazardous waste is lowest in the Eastern Province because of facilities there for getting rid of the waste; in Riyadh and the Western Province there are few such facilities.
Al-Zibin spoke about PME’s achievements in disposing of hazardous waste but said many challenges remain. He recommended more facilities for disposing of this waste, decreasing the amounts of the waste by producing products that are environmental-friendly, encouraging recycling and raising public awareness.
Some points raised during the discussion were environmental tourism, public awareness, cooperation with other ministries such as transportation and the never-ending saga of Jeddah’s sewage problems.
Few women attended the seminar but one who did, a university teacher doing a PhD in solid waste management, said: “I did not benefit much from the seminar. I wish there had been more time for discussion because there were some good questions.”
Another woman, also a university professor, said the seminar should have been open to the public so that more people could have benefited. “It is important to teach environmental protection from an early age. We have many bad habits that injure the environment and we are not even aware of them,” she told Arab News.
