State Council committee hosts ministry officials to discuss marine pollution

MUSCAT: The Social Committee of the State Council on Wednesday hosted Najib bin Ali al Rawas, Under-secretary for Environment and Climate Affairs in the Ministry of Environment and Climate Affairs (MECA), and a number of ministry officials, as part of the committee’s study on the “revision of the Marine Pollution Control Law promulgated by Royal Decree No 34/74”.

The committee’s 9th meeting of the 4th annual session of the 6th period was presided over by Dr Hamad bin Sulaiman al Salmi, Head of the Committee, in the presence of the committee members and staff of the General Secretariat.

The committee reviewed matters related to the study, including: The ministry’s efforts in the area of marine pollution, risk education programmes, the procedures governing labour, marine security and safety requirements, coordination and data efficiency, measurement and institutional readiness tools, strategies, legislation and laws, as well as practical proposals to reduce marine pollution.

Discussions also touched on the extent of marine pollution incidents in the Sultanate, the risks involved, actions and proposals to reduce them, the level of legislative operationalisation of relevant international and regional agreements and partnerships, and the adequacy of national pollution legislation in force and the ministry’s proposals to address the challenges in this area.

The delegation from the MECA included Suleiman bin Nasser al Azami, Director General of Nature Conservation, Dr Mohammed bin Saif al Kalbani, Director of Environmental Inspection and Control, Responsible for the work of the Director General of Environmental Affairs, and Mahmoud bin Mohammed al Busaidy, Responsible for the work of the Director of the Legal Department of the ministry.