JEDDAH, 13 March 2007 — A four-day convention of Islamic countries, which is under way at the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry, has called for steps to prevent water pollution and campaign for wastewater management.
The convention, organized by Saudi Council of Engineers in cooperation with Federation of Engineering Institution of Islamic Countries (FEIIC) at the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry, will have workshops for two days from today on biological treatment of domestic and industrial waste water and ISO 9001 in engineering education.
About 100 papers are being presented at the event in which over 350 delegates are participating from various Islamic countries, 60 of them from Malaysia alone. Other countries represented include Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Jordan and Syria.
Among the conclusions reached at the convention are establishment of a research and development center for offering advanced technologies in engineering in general and water technologies in particular.
Speakers said that all issues related to water including exploitation of ground water in countries where rain is scarce, harvesting of rain water, conservation of water and prevention of water pollution should be taken up by all Islamic countries as a crash program. “It was proposed that such an R&D center should be located in Saudi Arabia,” FEIIC President Abang Abdullah Abang Ali told a press conference yesterday. Saudi Council of Engineers’ Secretary-General Saleh A. El-Amr, FEIIC Secretary-General Megat Johari Megat Mohamed Noor and Jordan Engineers Association President Wa’el Saqqa accompanied him.
“One of the suggestions made is that if the environment is taken care of, problems related to water can get solved,” Noor said. “This will also bring down the cost of water treatment.”
The convention urged the Kingdom to take a lead role in the Muslim world and address all issues related to water and environment. The proposed R&D center should provide the latest technologies to deal with such issues.
“The convention sought that Islamic countries should tackle all such issues themselves and head for providing leadership worldwide,” Noor said.
He noted that Muslim countries needed to work together to strengthen their position in the world as leaders in technology rather than mere users. “Education and training of human resources are of utmost importance in ensuring that the development of capacity is on the right track.”
“Globalization in growing economies — building capacity” is the theme of the convention, which was opened by Hashim Yamani, minister of commerce and industry, on Saturday night.
El-Amr said the convention, the first of its kind in Jeddah, offered an opportunity to local experts and academics to interact with their counterparts from different Islamic countries.
The event is organized in conjunction with the 9th FEIIC General Assembly and its 20th council meeting, which on Sunday reelected Abang Ali as president.
The convention, the second in the series of biennial congregation of top engineers and technologists from FEIIC member countries as well as Muslim professionals working in non-Muslim countries, seeks to nurture interdisciplinary collaboration between member countries and individuals.
Given the urgency for Islamic countries to catch up with the more advanced nations, there is a need to develop a program of actions to achieve engineering excellence in Islamic countries.
