New rules on waste management approved

The Cabinet has approved new regulations for the management of municipal solid waste in all cities and villages to protect the environment and ensure the safety of citizens and residents.
The regulations will ensure an integrated framework for the management of municipal solid waste. This includes waste separation, collection, transportation, storage, sorting, recycling and processing, said Minister of Culture and Information Abdul Aziz Khoja in a statement to the Saudi Press Agency after the weekly Cabinet meeting chaired by Crown Prince Salman, deputy premier and minister of defense, at Al-Salam Palace in Jeddah on Monday night.
The Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs would be responsible for overseeing the tasks and responsibilities of the solid waste management system. The plan is to protect the environment and people’s health and safety.
The ministry has to develop appropriate programs to educate people about how to deal correctly with waste, the minister added.
The Cabinet also called on the international community to launch immediate humanitarian assistance to Palestine, particularly for prisoners in Israeli jails, and to end Israeli oppression.
The Kingdom also reiterated its appeal to the international community to help end the genocide of the Syrian people and find ways to allow relief aid and medicines to enter that country.
Finance Minister Ibrahim Al-Assaf briefed the Cabinet on the International Monetary Fund’s ranking of the Kingdom as one of best-performing economies in the G20 in recent years.
The Cabinet also lauded the speeches of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah and Crown Prince Salman at the beginning of Ramadan, which stressed the Islamic message of love, forgiveness, tolerance, dialogue and peace.
The King had also said that Saudi Arabia would not allow anyone to use religion to promote extremist views.
The Cabinet also commended the King’s order to open the ground floor, first floor, the first mezzanine, and the outer north, south and west squares of the King Abdullah project for the expansion of the Grand Mosque, which can accommodate about 400,000 worshippers.
The Cabinet also authorized the president of the Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities to discuss and sign a tourism agreement with the Mexican government.
It also appointed Muhammad bin Ali Al-Khudair and Abdul Wahab Al-Faiz as members of the Saudi Press Agency’s board of directors.