Green Line Critical of Govt’s Lack of Action

By Nawara Fattahova, Kuwait Times

Jun. 5–KUWAIT — Today is World Environment Day. This year’s slogan is ‘Kick the habit! Towards a Low Carbon Economy’. On this occasion Khalid Al-Hajri, President of the Green Line Environmental Group in Kuwait, issued a statement about the dangers of the environmental situation in Kuwait. “This statement is a warning for officials and higher authorities in government to act fast in order to correct the situation. The various environmental problems continue to cause health, social and economic harm and may finally affect the stability of the country,” he said.

According to Al-Hajri, Kuwait needs an urgent environmental rescue by government and parliament. “The economy has also been very badly affected by not having clear environmental policies that ensures the safety of society and the systematic development in this field,” he said.

Parliament should play an active role in environmental issues. “The Parliamentary Environmental Committee should be given a permanent place and its members should be mandated to keep abreast of the newest issues in the environmental field. Parliamentarians should also realize that this issue is not less important than others, especially after we have seen the diseases caused by pollution that has spread in our society and affected children in particular,” Al-Hajri explained.

The group was critical of government’s lack of action, accusing it of not taking environmental issues seriously enough. “Government is responsible for the harm caused to society by the pollution by its lack of action in implementing laws to protect society.” They further called on government to assign a new director for the Public Authority for Environment, instead of continuing with a temporary director. They suggested that a reorganization of the Authority was needed so that it could act independently of the government and in the public interest.

Al-Hajri also offered his advice for the Kuwait Institute for Scientific Researches (KISR). “I think that KISR should be divided into independent scientific institutions, so that more graduates could incorporated. Also, government should establish more new scientific universities which will create more environmental awareness and positively affect the Kuwaiti environment,” he noted.

The legal sector also has a role to play by participating in the drive to solve the environmental problems. “There should be a complete revamp of laws to address environmental crimes. Also Prosecutors and Judges must be trained to deal with environmental cases,” stressed Al-Hajri. The private sector should be involved in this process as well. “Companies should respect the environmental criteria for different projects so that society is protected from potential pollution. Private sector recycling projects m ust also be encouraged,” he concluded.

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