Firms targeted over pollution concerns

The Eastern Province Municipality plans to relocate or close down factories located outside the borders of industrial cities in line with new legislation on environmental pollution and public health concerns.
It held a meeting on Tuesday at the headquarters of the Agency of Reconstruction and Projects to discuss the current situation, in line with a Council of Ministers' decision on April 16 this year.
Jamal bin Nasser Al-Mulheim, deputy mayor for reconstruction and projects, chaired the meeting. Participants included Abdullah bin Ali Al-Quranni, deputy mayor for services, and representatives from the Ministries of Commerce and Industry, Agriculture, Finance, Health, Water and Electricity, and the Saudi Industrial Property Authority (MODON).
Al-Mulheim said the municipality's urban planning department would compile details of these factories, including their location, licenses, raw materials used for manufacturing, the original owner of the plant, the nature of the area surrounding it and other related information.
He said the following phase would involve holding workshops to evaluate each individual plant, then suggesting solutions. This could mean closing them permanently or relocating them to suitable locations, depending on whether they "meet environmental and health standards."
"A grace period will be granted for the party concerned to address all these issues," he said.
Al-Mulheim said the municipality is working with the Presidency of Meteorology and Environment to provide plant owners with names of companies that can carry out environmental impact assessments. The factories will bear the cost of assessment, he said.
If factories have expired environmental licenses, action could be taken against them.
The meeting also discussed various aspects of the Council of Ministers' decision to ensure sound and sustainable planning for factory construction across the country in future. The municipality and Modon would designate land for industrial use across the different governorates, including building new industrial cities. The private sector will be encouraged to build these industrial sites outside the borders of the major cities.