The Presidency of Meteorology and Environment (PME) has fined a number of quarries in south Jeddah for violating environmental regulations, said Abdullah Al-Silmi, PME Director of Environment Protection. He said the violations uncovered by PME field inspectors showed that some of the quarries were operating without a license while others were found lacking the necessary devices to prevent the emission of gases and dust. The inspectors also reported that owners of some of the quarries had not asphalted the roads leading to their sites. Al-Silmi said that in the past month inspection teams had visited quarries at Jabl Aled in South Jeddah and found that a number of quarries were emitting pollutants into the air which cause damage to the environment and to the inhabitants of districts located nearby. He said that although it was mandatory for quarry owners to display the expiry date of purifying filters in a place accessible to inspectors, most of the owners do not do so because the filters are expensive and their life expectancy is short. Al-Silmi said the quarry owners were fined according to the size and number of violations.
