RIYADH: Construction projects in Riyadh have been fined more than SR20 million ($5.25 million) for creating dust pollution, according to the National Center for Environmental Compliance.

Fawaz Al-Mujathal, director of the center’s Riyadh branch, said that the penalties were issued following inspections carried out in cooperation with the Royal Commission for Riyadh City and Riyadh Municipality.

Under an initiative launched in February to improve air quality in the city, inspectors monitor dust pollution produced by construction projects using 12 fixed and four mobile monitoring stations.

Al-Mujathal said that the monitoring was conducted 24 hours a day, seven days a week so that inspectors could identify the precise location of offending sites and the levels of pollution being created.