The undersecretaries of ministries in charge of environment affairs in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) recommended Tuesday the establishment of a rescue coordination and marine emergency response unit to buttress GCC potential in protecting marine environment. At the end of their two-day 33th meeting, the GCC officials also urged the GCC states to speed up moves to sign the International Convention for the Control and Management of Ships' Ballast Water and Sediments, said Acting Director General of Kuwait Environment Public Authority (EPA) for Technical Affairs Mohammed Al-Enezi in statements to KUNA after the closing session. The Ballast Water Management (BWM) Convention, adopted by the UN in 2004, aims to prevent the spread of harmful aquatic organisms from one region to another, by establishing standards and procedures for the management and control of ships' ballast water and sediments. Al-Enezi pointed that the participants also recommended the formation of team to set mechanisms for the implementation of Kuwait's proposal to launch an electronic gate for environmental affairs in the Gulf countries. The recommendations also included holding a workshop on environment violations and oil pollution monitoring systems in Kuwait during the period from 18 to 20 August. They also called for effective participation in two others workshops to be held in Qatar next year on dealing with radiation, and oil and chemicals pollution. The conferees also recommending expansion of cooperation with Turkey, Jordan and Morocco as well as all regional and international organizations to upgrade the GCC capacity in protecting the environment.
