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The Regional Commission for the Conservation of the Red Sea Environment (RCCRDE) has conducted an exhaustive study on the Red Sea to determine whether it is harboring radioactive or toxic material, Dr. Ziyad Abu Ghararah, the secretary general of RCCRDE announced.
The study has been prompted by reports that industrial countries are dumping their industrial and toxic waste near the coastlines of countries bordering the Red Sea. Ghararah, however, dismissed these reports, saying that no industrial or toxic waste has been detected in the Red Sea. “The new study will help us gather the facts and make sure that there is no waste buried anywhere,” he said.
Referring to attempts to make the Red Sea a protected area, Ghararah said, “We expect to activate the area this year. We will be waiting for the action of the RCCRDE and the International Maritime Organization (IMO).” “Penalties for dumping waste will be increased and efforts to curtail illegal dumping will be heighted through coordination among the various countries around the sea,” he said.
“Coastal cities have signed a treaty with the IMO regulating the discharge of water from ships, which will take effect in the near future. This calls for upgrading the readiness of these countries, since the controls to be implemented require the existence of a treatment system for this water, and treatment systems must be approved by the IMO, since you cannot discharge water into the sea except after treatment,” he said.
“Regulating the discharge of ballast water is crucial for sea environment, because ballast can cause economic and environmental damage to the sea,” he explained.
Four countries, he said, have so far signed a memorandum of understanding regarding the monitoring of ships calling at ports. “We want to exchange information about ship inspection in order to control sea pollution from navigation activities and follow up on countries’ adoption of a regional strategy for managing ballast water, in addition to a regional strategy to minimize the emission of constant organic pollutants.”
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