Increased emissions from Doha power plant reported

KUWAIT: Environmental activist Khaled Al-Hajri noticed the Doha power plant was producing increased emissions yesterday, and reported it to the emergency hotline of the interior ministry. The power plant is operated by the Ministry of Electricity and Water, but Hajri didn’t get any response from it. “The emissions of the Doha power plant and other power plants in both the north and south of Kuwait are toxic, caused by burning heavy oil to supply the station with energy, so the sulfur percentage is high. This causes massive pollution and should stop,” Hajri,

Chairman of the Green Line Environmental Group Kuwait (GLEG), told Kuwait Times.

“I reported the matter to the authority in charge and they should pass it to the environmental police to take action. But until now, the Environment Public Authority (EPA) hasn’t issued any statement. By ignoring this issue, the government is violating the articles of the Paris climate agreement signed by Kuwait. According to this agreement, Kuwait should decrease emissions of power plants and oil refineries to preserve the environment, but this agreement is not respected by the government,” he charged.

The power plants have been causing pollution since they were built. “For many years, we have been demanding to fix purifiers at power stations to limit and filter the emissions. The authorities in charge are not transparent in announcing the amount of emissions, but environmental activists are observing the pollution,” warned Hajri, adding the EPA is uncooperative. “EPA has filed over 30 cases against activists of Green Line to stop us from monitoring environmental issues and pollution in the country,” he concluded.