[caption id="attachment_90117" align="alignleft" width="225"] Abdulaziz Al-Jasser [/caption]By Mohammad Abu Dawood RIYADH — The president of the General Authority of Meteorology and Environmental Protection said money obtained from fines for environmental violations would go to the public treasury. Abdulaziz Al-Jasser said the authority does not profit in any way from the fines collected. "The authority has a total of 1,200 employees. Starting this month, all of our inspectors' paperwork will become electronic. All violations and required information about the establishments will be recorded electronically," said Al-Jasser. He said the authority is working on developing partnerships with the private sector. "If some of our employees wish to transfer to a private company partnering with us, we don't have any objection. They have the freedom to move. Next year, we will commence the environmental scanning of Riyadh Province and the Eastern Province," said Al-Jasser. He also said the authority has already completed the environmental scanning of Jeddah. "We don't issue fines until our inspectors have paid at least one visit to the location and the violation is repeated. Only when the authority's instructions are ignored, we impose fines on establishments," said Al-Jasser. He also said the authority has set guidelines and parameters to maintain a healthy environment and prevent environmental damage. "A healthy environment protects people as we cannot be healthy without being in a healthy environment. We have standards for a healthy environment for industrial establishments. Our standards aim to protect natural resources, the environment and the people working in those industries or living neaby," said Al-Jasser. He also said the authority is working on ways to reuse sewage water. "Currently, sewage water is dumped into the sea. This is a great loss of resources as we can use sewage water for industrial and agricultural projects. The authority is currently working on a way to make use of the discarded resource," said Al-Jasser. He said the authority cooperates with the National Water Company to find solutions for reusing sewage water. "The authority is also addressing the issue of pollution in Al-Arbaeen Lake. A committee consisting representatives of the authority, the municipality, King Abdulaziz University, the National Water Company and the Border Guard was formed to address the issues posed by the lake," said Al-Jasser. Meanwhile, 21 businesses have been penalized for violating environmental health regulations. An official with the General Authority of Meteorology and Environmental Protection said the authority ran an inspection campaign in Riyadh, Makkah and southern provinces. The inspection resulted in the penalization of 21 industrial companies because they violated environmental health regulations. The penalties included fines and in one case, temporary closure until it is in compliance with environment codes.
