‘Need for full-scale scheme to tackle marine pollution’
EPA officials meet, examine tentative ‘project’
KUWAIT CITY, Sept 12, (KUNA): An official at Kuwait’s Environment Public Authority (EPA) on Thursday affirmed the country’s need for a fullscale national plan to cope with contamination of sea waters.
Dr Abdullah Al-Zaidan, EPA’S Deputy Director General for Technical Affairs, was speaking to Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) on sidelines of a meeting that grouped the authority officials – discussing a projected scheme to deal with marine pollution.
Dr Al-Zaidan indicated that he and the other participants in the meeting, the second to be held at this level, examined a tentative “project” in this respect, launched last March.
The planned “project” will be adopted in at least two years, he said, noting that the efforts for working out the scheme involved teams from the oil sector, namely Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC), its subsidiary companies, the government sector such as the ministries of Transport, Electricity, Water, Interior, Defense and Kuwait Fire Service Directorate (KFSD).
It has been “launched,” he says, in line with EPA’s keenness on playing its supervisory role in coordination with the other competent State bodies, to ensure effective response to cases of marine pollution, in addition implementing the law for protecting the environment (42/2014), along with its amendments, as well as overhauling mechanisms of dealing with and effectively responding to accidents that cause pollution to the marine environment.
Dr Al-Zaidan adds that the tasks that have performed within the said planned project also involve the Regional Organization for the Protection of the Marine Environment (ROPME).
For his part, Abdulmenem AlJenahi, the director of mutual aid for marine emergency, affiliated with ROPME, called for updating an old plan for coping with contamination in the sea waters.
The Purchase Committee at the Ministry of Public Works has recommended awarding the South Khaitan project to a Turkish company, reports Al-Jarida daily quoting sources.
Sources explained the Turkish company submitted the second lowest bid, but the committee recommended this company because the lowest bidder is a company which faces troubles in the execution of housing projects.
Sources said the Turkish company’s bid is KD19 million – KD4 million lower than the ministry’s estimated cost for the project (KD 23 million).
Sources added Minister of Public Works Dr Jinan Boushehri issued a directive to complete the necessary procedures as quickly as possible, including obtaining approval from monitoring bodies such as State Audit Bureau and Central Agency for Public Tenders.