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Major government campaign to combat environmental pollution
Iraq 10/17/2024
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Hours after the Cabinet’s decisions the day before yesterday, Tuesday, and the directives of Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani regarding projects and factories causing environmental pollution in the capital, Baghdad, and the governorates; a major government campaign was launched in a coordinated manner with the participation of several ministries, to strictly implement those decisions and directives, as the teams and units of the Ministry of Interior specialized in various areas of the capital were deployed to close facilities that violate the instructions, and which cause emissions of sulfur dioxide, carbon dioxide, and other polluting gases.
The Ministry of Interior launched a campaign to inspect industrial activities in the public and private sectors to monitor those in violation. The Director of the Environmental Police at the Ministry, Brigadier Thaer Hamid Saleh, said in a special interview with Al-Sabah: “Based on the Environmental Protection and Improvement Law No. 27 of 2009 and the Internal Regulation No. 1 of 2015, the duties of the Environmental Police were issued to implement environmental rulings and decisions, which include closing projects, activating warnings directed to projects that violate environmental specifications, and implementing decisions issued against environmental crimes,” indicating that “the Ministry of Environment is concerned with granting environmental approvals for all activities and projects after inspecting them and ensuring their compliance with all instructions issued by it.”
Saleh explained that "the Environmental Police - in accordance with the directives of the Minister of Interior - launched a broad campaign to uncover all industrial activities belonging to the public and private sectors, to monitor violators and take legal action against them, and to uncover the use of polluting materials, including (sulfur, black oil and scrap)," noting that "the campaign will include all centers affiliated with the Environmental Police in all governorates, and within the Karkh and Rusafa sides of the capital, Baghdad."
Interior campaign
Based on the recommendations and decisions issued by the Council of Ministers, the Minister of Interior, Abdul Amir Al-Shammari, directed the Environmental Police Directorate, with the support of the Baghdad Police Commands of Karkh and Rusafa, to close unlicensed brick factories and prevent the burning of waste, stressing the importance of implementing the recommendations issued by the Council of Ministers, which stressed the activation of the role and tasks of the Environmental Police in treating environmental waste and limiting polluting activities and events and taking legal measures against violators, in addition to stopping waste burning activities in and outside "landfill" sites and extinguishing current fires in coordination with the Ministry of Environment, and conducting periodic security campaigns to monitor all forms of pollution.
Al-Shammari stressed in his directives the need to enhance intelligence efforts in the Environmental Investigations Division to follow up on all environmental violations recorded by the Environment Directorates, in order to stop all causes of air pollution in residential areas and outside them.
Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, in a speech the day before yesterday while chairing the cabinet session, explained that the environmental pollution that the country suffers from, especially the capital Baghdad, was the result of wrong policies in dealing with projects, stressing that the state agencies are continuing to work to reduce pollution by strictly implementing environmental regulations and laws, stressing that the brick factories in Nahrawan are a "hotbed" for emissions contributing to Baghdad's pollution, and that these factories have the choice between using gas as fuel or moving it to another place outside the borders of Baghdad Governorate.
Civil Defense Directorate
The Environmental Protection Police Directorate, affiliated with the Civil Defense, seeks to implement a set of measures aimed at reducing environmental pollution in the capital, Baghdad, and other Iraqi cities.
This comes in coordination with the Ministry of Environment, as these measures aim to reduce violations related to environmental conditions, such as random grazing of livestock, islands, sanitary landfill, and overfishing, in addition to treating waste resulting from factories and plants. These efforts also include confronting pollution that affects rivers, air, soil, and water according to Environmental Protection and Improvement Law No. 27 of 2009.
The Director General of Civil Defense, Major General Mohsen Kazem Alak, said in a special interview with “Al-Sabah”: “The Environmental Protection Police Centers have received about (3040) complaints of environmental violations since the issuance of the law until this year. About (2962) complaints were resolved between closure and fines, while (78) cases are still under investigation.”
He explained that "the number of registered laboratories is about (6168) laboratories, of which (5678) obtained approvals from the Ministry of Environment to open, while the unlicensed laboratories amounted to about (490) laboratories, and warnings and closures were issued to these laboratories in accordance with the provisions of Article 33, first, of the Environmental Protection and Improvement Law No. 27 of 2009."
He stressed that "the number of on-site inspections carried out by the Environmental Protection Police detachments during the first half of this year amounted to (887) inspections, which resulted in the detection of (242) environmental violations in accordance with the provisions of Legal Article 33/First of the Law. The relevant authority also recorded (195) warnings, and (13) orders were issued to close the violating activities, and the number of registered activities that require the imposition of financial fines amounted to (4) activities."
Ministry of Environment Plan
In this context, the Ministry of Environment confirmed its participation with the World Health Organization under the slogan “A healthy environment equals healthy people,” and the emphasis on investing in the environment as a strategic investment in public health.
The Undersecretary of the Ministry of Environment, Jassim Al-Falahi, said in a special interview with Al-Sabah: “The government program is a promising program, and the Ministry of Environment - for the first time - is receiving unprecedented support from the government and the Prime Minister. This support has been confirmed in the government program, and through the axis (Environment, Climate Change and Renewable Energy), the Ministry of Environment has been allocated financial amounts to implement this axis, which focuses on (the oil and gas sectors, the exploitation of associated gas, and the conversion of simple cycles into complex ones in the electricity sector, and encouraging investment in the fields of exploiting solar energy as a clean source of energy, and solving bottlenecks that lead to significant environmental improvement. The more congestion and slowdown in the movement of cars, the higher the rate of harmful emissions, which are sources of pollution).”
Al Falahi pointed out that “the role played by the Ministry of Environment is to monitor polluting activities by executive bodies, and the efforts of the Ministry of Environment must be assisted and supported in establishing a solid national program to determine and measure air quality through stations and water quality measurement.” The Undersecretary of the Ministry of Environment, through “Al Sabah,” sent an important message to several bodies and said: “Here we find an important opportunity to address polluting bodies about the need to adhere to national environmental standards, and as you know, environmental health means human health, and we have raised a slogan with the World Health Organization (a healthy environment equals healthy people), and investing in the environment and strengthening environmental control is a strategic investment in public health.”
“The sources and foci of pollution are known to us and diagnosed, and are registered in the database of the Ministry of Environment, and most of them are related to the public sector, and the use of factories and projects for incomplete burning of heavy fuel (black oil), which contains high sulfur compounds,” he added, explaining that “this burning led to the rise of many vapors and gases such as sulfur dioxide and hydrocarbon compounds, in addition to other compounds, and these compounds are sometimes heavy, and as we are noticing now, there is a weather phenomenon related to changing wind directions and increasing humidity rates.”
Al-Falahi explained that, “In normal cases, such vapors and gases rise into the atmosphere, and citizens do not feel them to a great extent, although they can smell odors; but now these phenomena have become in the form of fog or clouds, especially at night and early morning, with an increase in humidity levels that have a direct relationship with the weight and density of such vapors and gases.”
He stressed that "the Ministry of Environment, based on its supervisory role, has taken a number of legal measures against these activities, especially the use of (heavy fuel) in power stations, and I specifically mention (the cycle thermal station) and (the Jerusalem thermal station), in addition to 300 brick factories, and oxidized and non-oxidized asphalt factories that use (heavy fuel), which is the most important source of emissions."
The Undersecretary of the Ministry of Environment continued, "It is necessary to point out a very important sector that contributes to pollution, which is an illegal sector, as every empty plot of land has become a dumping ground for waste that is burned. This happens daily and nightly in (Al-Rashid Camp) and in the areas of (Al-Nahrawan, Al-Taji and Al-Nabai). Therefore, we need cooperation not only from government agencies, but also from citizens and civil society organizations, as well as doubling the areas of afforestation to absorb toxic gases and release oxygen, increasing green spaces and confronting the erosion of orchards. All of these are very important measures to improve the environmental reality in the country."
He explained that “Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani paid special attention to the environment, and for the first time we find in the government program a focus on the environment, climate change and renewable energy, with significant support in the three-year budget,” adding, “The first environmental conference was held three months after the formation of the government, which was (the Basra Climate Change Conference), and one of the most important initiatives of that conference was the Prime Minister’s initiative through the project to plant five million palm trees and trees in the country, to be followed by planting six million and 500 thousand trees with national effort and community support, and involving many organizations,” indicating that “in Baghdad, we also need cooperation and an increase in financial support for the Ministry of Environment, in order to complete the monitoring system for air quality and water quality.”
Nahrawan Industrial Complex
In addition, the Ministry of Industry and Minerals announced yesterday, Wednesday, the suspension of granting licenses for factories in the Nahrawan Industrial Complex, while confirming that the Geological Survey Authority has been assigned to investigate new places suitable for brick manufacturing surrounding Baghdad.
Director General of the General Directorate of Industrial Development at the Ministry of Industry and Minerals, Ali Ibrahim, told the Iraqi News Agency (INA): "According to the recent directives of Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani to transfer the Nahrawan Industrial Complex outside Baghdad, the Geological Survey Authority was assigned to begin investigating areas surrounding Baghdad such as (Suwayra, Abu Ghraib, Taji and Diyala) for the purpose of obtaining lands suitable for brick manufacturing."
He pointed out that "the investigation is currently underway in Al-Suwaira district, in order to verify the soil, and these tests require two months, and when the procedures are completed, these laboratories will be transferred outside Baghdad," indicating that "the Bismayah and Ali Al-Wardi residential complexes, as well as the residential area in Al-Nahrawan, have become close to the Al-Nahrawan industrial complex, and this matter is dangerous and has no economic benefit."
He pointed out that "there is significant environmental pollution due to the factories, and there is no ability to reduce it or grant licenses to new factories," adding that "the granting of any licenses to factories in the Nahrawan Industrial Complex has been stopped."
Parliamentary follow-up
As part of the efforts made to combat environmental pollution caused by medical waste, the Parliamentary Health Committee followed up on the referral of 23 projects for hospital waste treatment plants in Baghdad Governorate.
This follow-up comes after noticing price violations and differences in the designs of each station, which prompted the committee to consult the “National Center for Engineering Consultations” to ensure the integrity of the procedures.
Health Committee member Basem Al-Gharabi told Al-Sabah: “We noticed that there is a clear exaggeration in the prices of hospital waste treatment plants, as it turned out that the beneficiary exceeded the maximum price limit set by the National Center for Engineering Consultations.” He added: “These offers were compared with other offers and it turned out that there were significant differences, which prompted us to follow up on this file carefully.” The committee also discussed the powers of Baghdad Governorate regarding the contracts concluded and the reasons for these high amounts, and the hosting of various concerned parties continues to find out the real reasons behind these violations and follow up on all the details related to the project.
The projects were referred to Al-Faris Company, affiliated with the Ministry of Industry and Minerals, with the aim of implementing the required treatment plants. The Health Committee confirmed its continued follow-up of this file to ensure the implementation of environmental safety standards and prevent the pollution of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers with medical waste.
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